He recently gave his thoughts on the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) debate in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda but steered clear from picking one as his GOAT.
The Russian described how each one of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic strived hard to outdo the player considered the GOAT before their arrival - Pete Sampras. Tursunov pointed out that there is always a chance of someone outdoing Sampras and the Big 3 in the future.
The former World No. 20 reckons that Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, and Sampras were all driven by records and an eagerness to create tennis history. Tursunov believes that it was this aspect that helped the four find unparalleled levels of dedication to the sport.
Tursunov suggested that Federer, Sampras, Djokovic, and Nadal are cut from a different cloth, arguing how most players lack the mindset to achieve such prolonged periods of dominance.
The 39-year-old feels the Big 3 have set expectations in men’s tennis to an extraordinarily high level for both players and fans.
“I didn’t particularly love tennis as much as, say Rafael Nadal, he looks like he truly enjoys it” - Dmitry Tursunov
During his exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Dmitry Tursunov was asked to reflect on his career and summarize his regrets and satisfactions. In his response, the Russian admitted that he could have done better during his career but added that it would have been tricky since he did not love the sport as much as someone like Rafael Nadal does.
Although Tursunov reckons he gave more to the sport than most young players of today’s generation, he firmly believes his dedication levels paled in comparison to Roger Federer’s.
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