Inside James Blake’s Mount Rushmore of tennis greats
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are all in the conversation for tennis’ greatest of all time, but regardless of preference, each one deserves a place on the sport’s Mount Rushmore. The three players combined for 66 Grand Slam titles over their careers and won 296 ATP events altogether. Djokovic sits at the top with a record 24 majors, while Nadal finished his career with 22 and Federer retired with 20.
The first three are clear choices for most fans when talking about men’s tennis’ Mount Rushmore, given what they achieved over their careers. The fourth spot could go to a few others, including Rod Laver or Bjorn Borg, but not many can argue against Sampras either. Djokovic brought unrivalled consistency to every major event he played in, while Nadal redefined what dominance looked like at Roland Garros by winning it an astonishing 14 times.
And then there was Federer, who seemed to glide across hard courts with ease during his prime years between James Blake reveals his picks for tennis’ Mount Rushmore During a chat with New York Post Sports, Blake was asked to name his four picks for the men’s tennis Mount Rushmore. Speaking about Djokovic, he said: “Yeah, he’s the GOAT. “I mean, he’s got every accolade you could imagine.
He’s got more weeks number one, more Grand Slams, more Masters 1000s. He’s done it all. And absolutely, he’s the GOAT.
“So he’s, of course, on the Mount Rushmore. And you got to put the, you pretty much have to put the big three up there, Roger Rafa Novak is the three up there. “And so it’s just a matter of who’s the fourth.