'You don't have to fool yourself' - Rafael Nadal accepts Novak Djokovic will win most Grand Slams

Updated 02/12/2021 at 15:31 GMT

Nadal and Djokovic each currently have 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a tally they share with great rival Roger Federer. With the Spaniard and Federer increasingly plagued by long injury absences and Djokovic seemingly still at somewhere close to his best, Nadal admitted that the Serbian is likely to finish with the greatest tally of the three.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia salutes Rafael Nadal of Spain after his semi-final victory during day 13 of the French Open 2021, Roland-Garros 2021, Grand Slam tennis tournament at Roland Garros stadium on June 11, 2021 in Paris, France.

Image credit: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal has conceded that Novak Djokovic is likely to close his career as the most successful men's Grand Slam singles tennis player of all time.

The Spaniard is currently tied with Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam titles after the Serbian added three more to his tally in a remarkable 2021.

With both Nadal and Federer increasingly troubled by injury, the 13-time French Open champion believes that it would be foolish to suggest that Djokovic is not most likely of the three to end up with the highest tally.

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"Djokovic is best positioned to be the [men's] player with the most Grand Slams," Nadal admitted to Vamos, on Movistar+.

"You don't have to fool yourself - Federer is where he is and I am where I am. However, Djokovic is playing well and in a good moment.

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"That is the reality and you can't ignore it. We don't know what is going to happen in nine months' time, but he is the favourite right now."

Nadal won his last Grand Slam at Roland-Garros last year, but has competed at only two majors since.

He was knocked out of the quarter-finals at the 2021 Australian Open by Stefanos Tsitsipas before falling to Djokovic in the semi-finals on the clay at the second Grand Slam of the year.

Federer, meanwhile, last took victory in Australia in 2018.

The 40-year-old underwent season-ending knee surgery in August but hopes to return to the tour in 2022.

The emergence of a 'Next Generation' to succeed men's tennis' 'Big Three' has long been talked about, but players like Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are yet to replicate the remarkable consistency of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal and the sport's biggest tournaments.

However Nadal relieves that with he and Federer increasingly absent from week-to-week tour life, the trio form a key part of the "current generation" rather than the future of tennis.

"They are no longer the Next Gen, we do not have to make it eternal.

"Players like Medvedev, Zverev or Tsitsipas have already passed that stage of the Next Gen, they are the current generation, the present."

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