Spanish legend Rafael Nadal has recently shared his thoughts after he expressed his disapproval of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka’s former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou’s viewpoints, which he made in light of the Big Three featuring Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic, and the current top two, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
The French coach, in his statement, had expressed that Djokovic’s defeat of Sinner in the Australian Open semifinal did not mean the Big Three were better than Sinner and Alcaraz.
Rafael Nadal Addresses Mouratoglou Remarks After Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open Win
The Spanish icon, along with Federer and Djokovic, dominated the sport for two decades and achieved prominent feats during their primes, with the Serbian still clinching achievements at 38. Among them, Djokovic has the most major titles, 24; Nadal holds 22, and Federer has 20.
After the Serbian won the Australian Open semifinal against the Italian in a five-set thriller that lasted four hours and nine minutes, Mouratoglou shared his views, comparing the Big Three with World No. 1 Alcaraz and No. 2 Sinner.
The notable coach had reflected on his thoughts, adding through his Instagram, “Thinking that Alcaraz and Sinner aren’t better than the Big Three just because Novak beat Sinner at the Australian Open is a short-term view. One match never tells the whole story. Perspective matters!”
To which Nadal had replied with a string of emojis, adding, “🤭🫣(peeking eye)🤣🤣🤣,” which he later deleted. He recently shared his views after Mouratoglou said Djokovic’s victory over the Italian isn’t proof that the Big Three are playing better tennis than the current elites.
He added his point, mentioning, “I don’t see the controversy. I don’t want to generate controversy, but the point is that the analysis from [Patrick] is wrong. It’s as if you were to analyse today’s Messi with the Messi who played in Barcelona or the Cristiano Ronaldo who plays today with the one he played in Real Madrid, this is simply my point of view.”
Nadal continued, sharing that each player makes their own legacy and has been taking the sport to greater heights, “In the end, everyone makes their own career and I never said that some are better than others, the career of each one will mark who has been better, and all are great ambassadors for our sport and I think we have to be happy to have someone like Novak, who is still up there after so many years on the circuit.”
🇪🇸👇 Rafael Nadal clarifies his stance around Mouratoglou’s comments, who stated that Djokovic beating Sinner doesn’t prove the Big 3 are better than Sinner/Alcaraz:
“I don’t see the controversy. I don’t want to generate controversy, but the point is that the analysis from… pic.twitter.com/bGxfgdhnG5
— Olly Tennis 🎾 🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) February 10, 2026
He ended after sharing positive views on the World No. 1, who became the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open, “Having Carlos (Alcaraz) is a blessing, because he is a great player who represents us all over the world and on top of that he is taking tennis to an incredible level, and I think we can only enjoy and appreciate it, that’s all.”
The Spanish legend was in attendance for the Australian Open final between Djokovic and Alcaraz, and received warm words from both players as they paid their respects after the match.
