Novak Djokovic news: Former British No 1 on the day the Serb touched perfection

It is the rivalry that has dominated tennis over the last two decades and now former British No 1 Andrew Castle has claimed Novak Djokovic has come the closest to tennis perfection in his battles with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic’s deportation from Australia and Nadal’s remarkable triumph at the Australian Open ensured the Spaniard moved ahead of the Serb and Federer in the list of all-time Grand Slam winners by sealing his 21st triumph.

The final analysis of who is the greatest of all-time will only come when the trio hang up their rackets and their end-of-career statistics can be compared, but Castle has told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview that Djokovic has come closest to playing the ultimate tennis match in the battles of the big three.

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Castle has followed the careers of the ‘Big Three’ at close quarters in his role as the BBC’s lead commentator at Wimbledon and other major events over the last two decades and he suggests Djokovic’s 2019 Australian Open final demolition of Nadal was a tennis masterclass.

“Of all of these magnificent players, if you had to pick one player that played the single highest standard of tennis you have ever seen, who would it be?” asked Castle, speaking to Tennis365 in his role as a Game4Padel ambassador.

“I think that final against Nadal (in Australia) when he beat him for the loss of eight games in 2019 was the single highest standard performance I have seen in just about any sport.

“Every sport is about doing the basics superbly well. That’s where I find the beauty in great sport and for me, Novak does