Martina Navratilova picks favorite between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to lead Grand Slam Race At End Of 2023

Martina Navratilova believes that Novak Djokovic will conclude the 2023 season with more Grand Slam titles than Rafael Nadal. Navratilova predicts that the Serb, who has never before been in the front of the Slam race, will win at least 24 Major trophies this year.

The Spanish great finished the 2022 season with 22 championships to his name after Nadal, Djokovic, and fellow Big-3 adversary Roger Federer were all tied at 20 Grand Slam victories each at the beginning of the season. As a result, Djokovic became the first player to ever surpass Federer with 21 career titles after his Wimbledon triumph.

Martina Navratilova said, “The odds are with Novak Djokovic,” in a recent interview with Tennis Channel. There’s a good chance he’ll take down multiple Majors this year.

To Navratilova, Nadal is still the clear favorite to win his 15th French Open this year, but she sees Djokovic as the clear favorite to win the current Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Even though many other players will present formidable opposition to the Serbian superstar, the American great believes that the latter will prevail in the end.

Navratilova said, “Rafa is an overwhelming favorite at Roland Garros, but for me, Novak is the favorite in all three of the other Majors.” Someone has to beat him and make him pay the price, but as it is, he is the clear favorite in all three of those categories.

The Serbian player’s former coach, the German tennis great Boris Becker, thinks that passing Rafael Nadal and taking the lead in the all-time Grand Slam race is Djokovic’s top aim before he calls it quits. Becker thinks that Djokovic would settle for nothing less, since he values being the player with the most Grand Slam titles won above everything else.

Boris Becker recently told Eurosport, “Novak wants to become the greatest successful tennis player of all time. “There’s no getting around it; for now, that’s Nadal. Breaking Nadal’s record is Djokovic’s top objective. Any other explanation would be unbelievable.”

On Monday, the Spaniard faced off against a young British player with a lot of potential named Jack Draper in his opening match of his Australian Open defense. The Serb, meanwhile, opens his season on Tuesday against Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.

Ahead of the Australian Open, the Serb won the Adelaide International 1 250 tournament to tie his great adversary for the most ATP singles titles ever won with 92.