"All Djokovic is doing right now is padding his career" - Author on why he thinks Serb can't catch up to Rod Laver & Martina Navratilova in GOAT list

Jeff Sackmann, a well-known author and the founder of TennisAbstract, recently discussed his list of the 128 greatest players of all time. He also reiterated his thoughts on who he thinks the best player is amongst legends like Novak Djokovic, Rod Laver, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf.

Speaking on the latest episode of Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis, Sackmann claimed that Djokovic has a long way to go before he can come close to greats like Rod Laver and Martina Navratilova.

Sackmann revealed that he often gets asked what Djokovic has to do to catch up to someone like Rod Laver. According to Sackmann, the Serb needs to play longer and win more Majors in order to climb up the list.

"I dont know, play another five years win 12 more Slams," Sackmann said.

He was then interrupted by the anchor, and asked if winning the 2023 Australian Open would push Djokovic up the list and bring him closer to third-placed Navratilova. Sackmann, however, replied in the negative.

"Not too much...there's 3 pieces, one is the player's peak, one is the player's best seven years one is the career. All Djokovic is doing right now is padding his career so it's really just one third of his rating, and that accounts for something, but Laver to Graf is a big gap, Graf and Navratilova is very close," Sackmann stated.

"I looked really really hard at that one and double checked all my numbers on and on and Graf is solidly above Navratilova but I mean we're talking a sliver," he added.

Sackmann also went on to compare other players' statistics to justify his rankings.

"But then Navratilova to Djokovic is pretty wide, Djokovic and Federer are pretty close, I think Rafa (Rafael Nadal) and Chrissy (Chris Evert) were surprisingly close which I thought was interesting given they are the respective clay GOATs of their tours," he stated.

"Whether it's Djokovic or someone else who is padding their career totals, like I said it only contributes to one-third of their ratings. Unless they are setting a new standard, unless Djokovic has an undefeated season or something and sets a new level for peak play in the men's game, unless Navratilova is making a successful comeback, there's not much happening at the top of the list for a long time," Sackmann added.

Novak Djokovic begins record 377th week as World No. 1

Novak Djokovic at the 2023 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic has added another feather to his cap as he has equalled the record for most weeks as World No. 1 - 377 weeks - which he now shares with Steffi Graf.

Djokovic, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, was ranked World No. 1 for the first time in 2011. In 2021, he surpassed Federer's record of 310 weeks at the top.

After his 2023 Australian Open triumph over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Serb dethroned Carlos Alcaraz from the top spot. When the new rankings are released on February 27, he will surpass Graf's record as well.