Ion Tiriac has slammed the chances of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to ever compete for tennis history with his favourite, Rafael Nadal.
The former Top 20 player and one-time owner of the Madrid Masters, unleashed his unfavourable opinions on the Swiss and the Serb, saying neither can ever match to what Nadal has achieved.
“Rafa will always be the real No. 1, there is no comparison with Novak or Roger,” the 83-year-old said after Nadal lifted his 14th title at Roland Garros. .
“Many generations will pass before we can see a guy winning 14 Grand Slam titles again.”
Meanwhile, the Romanian godfather of the game has words for Federer, who will attempt a return to the courts at age 41 in September and plans to resume full-time if his knee permits it next season.
“If Roger likes tennis, he can have a good time at 40, but I don’t think he has the ability to be really competitive,” Tiriac said. .
“He will even say that he is in danger of making a fool of himself.”
The old fox had even harsher words for Djokovic, who has compromised his own career and fallen from the No. 1 spot due to his refusal to take a simple COVID jab.
“He has made a fatal mistake with the vaccine issue, damaging his image a lot.
“He wants to be a personality in tennis like McEnroe or Nastase were at the time, but he does not have the necessary charisma for it.”
