'There's no debate as to who's best out of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic'

A current-day star has nailed his colours mast as an age-old debate rumbles on. The question of who's best out of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic continues to divide opinion amongst the sport's fans.

Of the sport's 'big three', who dominated the men's game for the best part of two decades, just Djokovic, 37, is still playing at the top level. Federer retired in 2022 with 20 Grand Slam titles, while Nadal, with 22 Grand Slam wins to his name, called time on his career at the end of last year, having battled injury problems for some time. Djokovic, who is through to the quarter-finals at the is out in front with 24 Grand Slam titles but that doesn't necessarily make him the greatest.

According to world No.14 Arthur Fils, the elegant Federer is the sport's finest male player of the era. Having been forced to withdraw from the French Open with a back injury, he was asked to rank a series of players. Asked bye Prime Video Sport France, the questions were:

Question: Carlos or Roger?

Answer: Roger

Question: Roger or Novak?

Answer: Roger

Question: Roger or Rafa?

Answer: Roger. I love Roger.

Fils withdrew from the tournament after his thrilling five-set victory over Jaume Munar in round two. He said: "I had some issue with the back since a long time and during the match against Munar it [got] worse.

"[I] got some stress fracture. What we decide with the team it was better to stop now, because if I'm stopping now, I could stop for only four to six weeks. If I was pushing myself too much, I would probably stop for a couple of months. This is not what we are trying to do, so [we] had to make a choice."

As for Djokovic, the Serbian is well placed to add Grand Slam number 25 to his tally after sweeping Briton Cameron Norrie aside in straight sets in the fourth round at Roland Garros. It was his 100th career win at the French Open.

"Considering my opponent's form and the occasion, I think it was a very good match from my side, a very solid performance," said Djokovic.

"A straight-sets win again. I'm pleased with the way things are going. Obviously matches only get tougher. I look forward to the next challenge."

In the quarter-finals, Djokovic will face German third seed Alexander Zverev, who came through against Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman retired injured in the second set.