{"id":24619,"date":"2023-12-21T13:25:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T13:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/?p=24619"},"modified":"2023-12-21T13:25:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T13:25:37","slug":"magnus-carlsen-declares-novak-djokovic-as-greatest-tennis-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/news\/magnus-carlsen-declares-novak-djokovic-as-greatest-tennis-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnus Carlsen Declares Novak Djokovic as Greatest Tennis Player"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"has-very-light-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<li>Magnus Carlsen, a chess grandmaster, declares Novak Djokovic as the &#8220;greatest tennis player of all time.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carlsen, known for his strategic brilliance, had a previous affinity for Rafael Nadal&#8217;s playing style.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Djokovic&#8217;s historic victory at the 2022 Australian Open, amid COVID-19 controversies, influenced Carlsen&#8217;s opinion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carlsen acknowledges Djokovic&#8217;s resilience and triumph over challenges, marking a significant moment in tennis history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Djokovic refrains from self-proclaiming as the greatest, leaving such judgments to others during a press conference.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The chess-to-tennis perspective shift by Carlsen adds a unique dimension to the ongoing debate on tennis greatness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In a surprising turn of events, renowned chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has proclaimed Novak Djokovic as the &#8220;greatest tennis player of all time.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlsen, known for his strategic brilliance on the chessboard, shared his perspective during a recent interview with Levy Rozman on YouTube. Despite having a personal affinity for Rafael Nadal&#8217;s style of play, Carlsen shifted his allegiance to Djokovic, citing a decisive moment that swayed his opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The chess prodigy acknowledged that his admiration for Djokovic reached its pinnacle &#8220;after the Australian Open thing.&#8221; This reference alludes to Djokovic&#8217;s remarkable performance at the 2022 Grand Slam, where he faced adversity due to COVID-19-related controversies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Serbian player, after being deported from Australia the previous year, returned to clinch the Australian Open title for an unprecedented 10th time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;I find it fascinating how proud people from the Balkans are of their athletes. <br>For me, Novak is the GOAT, and I&#39;m not saying that because he will read this interview in Serbia. I also believe that Nikola Jokic should have been named MVP in the NBA last season.&quot; <br>Magnus Carlsen <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DG0ffTRpeL\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/DG0ffTRpeL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Alice \ud83e\udd8b\ud83d\udc9c\u2744\ufe0f\u25b6\ufe0f (@Alice10204652) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Alice10204652\/status\/1737759618908946471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">December 21, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlsen&#8217;s affinity for Nadal&#8217;s playing style, characterized by aggression and patient waiting for opportunities, has been well-documented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite initially favoring Roger Federer, Carlsen&#8217;s inclination toward Nadal grew over the years. However, Djokovic&#8217;s resilient comeback and historic victory at the Australian Open compelled Carlsen to reconsider his stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Norwegian chess maestro shared insights during his appearance on the GothamChess YouTube channel, emphasizing the significance of Djokovic&#8217;s triumph amid challenging circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a report by <a href=\"https:\/\/tennisuptodate.com\/atp\/it-was-after-the-australian-open-novak-djokovic-covid-deportation-saga-makes-him-the-goat-says-chess-grandmaster\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tennis Up to Date<\/a>, Djokovic&#8217;s ability to navigate through the emotional and logistical hurdles of quarantine and deportation, culminating in a Grand Slam victory, left an indelible mark on Carlsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reflecting on his shift in preference, Carlsen noted, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-regular-font-size\"><strong>&#8220;It was after the Australian Open thing that he became the greatest for me.&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The acknowledgment from a chess grandmaster adds a unique dimension to the perennial debate surrounding the title of the greatest tennis player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a parallel development, Djokovic himself has refrained from claiming the title of the greatest player, leaving such judgments to others. During a press conference at the 2023 Paris Masters, the world No. 1 stated, &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to say I am the greatest player of all time. It&#8217;s not up to me to say things like that. I leave it up to others.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Djokovic expressed his gratitude for being a part of tennis history and affirmed his focus on being at the pinnacle of the sport. Despite the controversies surrounding his vaccination status and the challenges faced in Melbourne, Djokovic continues to dominate men&#8217;s singles tennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-background has-regular-font-size\" style=\"background-color:#eeecec\"><strong>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/other-sports\/watch-australian-open-live-stream\/\">How to Watch Australian Open 2023 for FREE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlsen&#8217;s admiration for Djokovic resonates beyond the chessboard, emphasizing the Serbian player&#8217;s impact not only on the court but also in navigating the complexities of the sports world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the chess grandmaster transitions his allegiance from Nadal to Djokovic, the tennis world awaits the upcoming Australian Open, where Djokovic aims to secure his 25th Grand Slam title. The tournament promises to be a stage for Djokovic to further solidify his claim as one of the greatest in tennis history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In summary, Magnus Carlsen&#8217;s unexpected declaration of Novak Djokovic as the greatest tennis player, coupled with Djokovic&#8217;s humility in the face of such accolades, adds a layer of intrigue to the ongoing debate. The convergence of chess and tennis perspectives provides a unique lens through which fans and pundits alike can appreciate the nuanced dynamics of greatness in sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a surprising turn of events, renowned chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has proclaimed Novak Djokovic as the &#8220;greatest tennis player of all time.&#8221; Carlsen, known for his strategic brilliance on the chessboard, shared his perspective during a recent interview with Levy Rozman on YouTube. Despite having a personal affinity for Rafael Nadal&#8217;s style of play,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":24620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24623,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24619\/revisions\/24623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footyvar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}