Over the years, Andre Agassi has weighed in on the GOAT debate among the ‘Big Three’. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated men’s tennis for almost two decades, creating and breaking numerous records in the process.

Federer was the first to burst onto the scene and dominated the early 2000s with multiple Grand Slam titles. The Swiss maestro rapidly became a fan favorite, increasing the global appeal of tennis largely due to his aura and effortlessness on the court.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Rafael Nadal took on Federer and was the best player in the world. The southpaw was a fierce competitor and his rivalry with Federer went down as one of the most iconic ones in all of sport. Later on, Novak Djokovic dominated the ‘Big Three’ era and is now on the top of the mountain with the most Grand Slam title wins in the history of men’s tennis.

While the ‘Big Three’ rivalry has ebbed and flowed, so has the opinion of former tennis players on the GOAT debate. Andre Agassi has often changed his stance on the GOAT debate and has hailed all of the ‘Big Three’ as the ‘greatest players of all time’ at some point in their careers.

After their thrilling US Open final in 2005, where Federer defeated Agassi, the American came out in the press conference and hailed the Swiss star as the ‘best tennis player’ he has ever faced. Federer was happy with the compliment where Agassi suggestively called him better than American great Pete Sampras. Federer and Agassi enjoyed a great rivalry that was dominated by the former.

While Federer continued his domination, a young Rafael Nadal entered the tennis world and took it by storm. The Spanish star dominated Federer and climbed to the top of the world ranking completing the career slam in 2010. Nadal was the best player in the world during the peak years of Federer and Novak Djokovic and that prompted Agassi to label the Spaniard as the number 1 player in the world. Agassi said that Nadal should be considered the greatest player ever during an interview in 2014.

“I’d put Nadal No. 1, Federer No. 2. It’s just remarkable to me what he has done, and he has done it all during Federer’s prime,” Agassi said.

Now, after Federer’s retirement and Nadal’s injury struggles, Djokovic has distanced himself from the rest as the greatest player of all time. The Serbian star has won an unmatched 24 Grand Slam titles and even added an Olympic gold medal to his tally in Paris 2024.

Talking about Djokovic early on in 2024, Agassi claimed that Djokovic was the greatest player ever due to his incredible achievements and records. The American ace further added that his Major titles, his weeks at World No. 1, and his Masters title wins are better compared to Federer and Nadal.

“There’s so many ways to look at it, but when you look at it on paper you just can’t argue with what he’s accomplished. The amount that he’s won, the head-to-heads, the Masters (titles), the year-end number ones, the weeks at number… all those stats,” Agassi said while talking about Djokovic.

Andre Agassi was Novak Djokovic’s coach for a year in 2017

Novak Djokovic announced that he would team up with Andre Agassi as his coach in May 2017. The Serbian was struggling for form having failed to win a Grand Slam title since the French Open in 2016. However, their much-anticipated partnership did not work well and ended within one year.

Agassi and Djokovic decided to part ways in April 2018 after the duo failed to win Grand Slam titles. Djokovic did not win a single Grand Slam title in 2017 and ended the year without a Major for the first time since 2010.

After their split, Agassi further reiterated that Djokovic has many years of tennis left in him and the Serbian soon got back to his best, winning the Wimbledon in 2018 to end his Grand Slam drought.