Toni Nadal says he knew Rafael Nadal would have problems with Novak Djokovic back in 2007

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are considered the 'Big Three' of the tennis world. They have won 20 Grand Slams each, which is the highest amongst all the male players throughout history. Despite their rivalry on the court, they are often considered to be good friends off the court. According to Toni Nadal, Rafa's coach and uncle, he says that he knew back in 2007 that Djokovic would be a 'problem' for them because of the way he played.

"I saw 18-year-old Djokovic play against (Juan) Monaco (at the 2007 US Open) and when I got to the locker room I said to Rafael, ‘We have a problem,’ because I saw a very good player. When someone is very good, you find out quickly," Uncle Toni said, as per Tennis Majors.

Federer and Djokovic better than Nadal

Uncle Toni then added that he could not have imagined what the Big three have achieved today. While he said that Federer was the best at everything he does, and when Nadal had won all the Slams at least once by the age of 24 he then knew that Rafa would aspire to be one of the best ever.

“I could never have imagined that they would achieve as much as they have,” Toni said of the three men. “Federer, yes, we saw that he would be one of the best in history – because he does everything well. When I saw that Rafael (Nadal) at (23 or 24 years old) had already (won every) Slam, I started to think that he could win a lot and that he could aspire to be one of the best."

Toni Nadal then continued saying that if you look at the stats then Federer or Djokovic are the best ever but quickly jumped to his nephew's defence saying that Rafa has missed many Grand Slams tournaments with injuries and claimed that Rafa has played many of them with injuries. He lastly added that to know who is actually the greatest ever, we will have to wait until all of them finish their careers.

"If you look at the numbers, the best is Federer or Djokovic,” Toni continued. "But Rafael has missed many Grand Slam tournaments with injuries and played others (while) injured. We will wait until their careers are over to establish who is the best."

(Image: AP)