Nadal edges ahead of Federer, Djokovic in GOAT debate

The numbers do not lie. Rafael Nadal stands alone on 21 Grand Slam titles, breaking a tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the race to be crowned the greatest male tennis player of all time.

The number of major titles is not the only factor used to determine where players sit in the pantheon but it is increasingly used as the go-to metric.

Nadal played down his astonishing achievement following his gruelling five-set win over Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final in the early hours of Monday.

The 35-year-old Spaniard said he did not care much whether his 21st title made him the best player in history or not.

But many fans are captivated by the debate about who will ultimately emerge from the golden age of men's tennis on top, with each of the "Big Three" supported by their own phalanx of die-hard supporters.

Swiss great Federer was out on his own as the sport's alpha male when he overtook Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam wins at Wimbledon in 2009, with Nadal trailing on six majors and Djokovic on just one.

As the rush of big titles began to slow for Federer from 2010, his two great rivals stepped on the accelerator, consistently winning Grand Slams over the following decade, even though Federer returned to winning ways in 2017 and 2018.

Nadal pulled level on 20 Slams after winning the French Open in 2020 and Djokovic joined the party after scooping three majors during a stellar 2021 season.

But the Spaniard is now out on his own after what he called "the biggest comeback of my career" to complete a 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win in Melbourne.

Nadal now has 58 "Big Titles", defined by the men's ATP Tour as a trophy at a Grand Slam championship, ATP Finals, Masters 1000 tournament or an Olympic singles gold