Paul Annacone, one of the great legends of the benches in the world of tennis, has been the last to surrender to the success of Rafa Nadal with the conquest of his thirteenth title at Roland Garros, which allowed him to equal Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles.
In an interview with Tennis Magazine Italia, the former coach of Pete Sampras, Tim Henman or Roger Federer, did not want to enter into the controversy about who is the greatest tennis player of all time, although he did emphasize the atrocity of Nadal in Paris. “I don't believe in the concept of 'greatest of all time (GOAT). If anything we can debate who is' the most successful ?, who has won the most in his career, who has more Grand Slam, who has been more weeks as number one in the ranking, who has more 1,000 Masters … I understand that there are doubts about that imbalance (the fact that Nadal has won 13 of his 20 Grand Slam at Roland Garros ) but to have won a Grand Slam 13 times is insane. In fact, I think it can be considered the greatest achievement in the history of the sport. And I think it is a brand that cannot be beaten. “
Annacone also said that while for many tennis players the number of titles in Grand Slam is important, other players like Pete Sampras gave more relevance to other milestones. “I understand that many people consider the Grand Slam titles as the most important indicator but I am not sure about that. Pete Sampras once told me that his greatest success was not his 14 Grand Slam or his seven Wimbledons, but the six years in a row that he finished as number 1 in the world. He said that succeeding for so many seasons in a row has been very difficult because there is only one No. 1 spot. while four Grand Slam are played a year. It seemed like a very interesting point of view. “
The coach once again stressed that he believes that a debate about who is the best in history cannot be opened due to great changes in the evolution of tennis. “I think the best tennis players of all ages have played a different tennis: with new technologies, new training sessions, different tournaments and rivals and also other surfaces. For me it is like mixing apples and pears. I am convinced that the strongest have known how to adapt, both in the past and now. For me there is no GOAT, in any case it would be a MAOAT: the most awarded tennis player of all time “.