Rafael Nadal makes huge admission about Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal recently made a big admission when comparing his and Novak Djokovic's legendary tennis careers.

"I believe that numbers are numbers and statistics are statistics. In that sense, I think he has better numbers than mine and that is indisputable," Nadal said in an interview with AS, according to an ESPN and Reuters report.

The 36-year-old Serbian tied Nadal's mark of 22 Grand Slam titles when he captured his 10th Australian Open crown in January. Djokovic broke "Rafa's" record for career Grand Slams when he won the French Open in June, before losing in the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.

"The Joker" earned his 24th title at the U.S. Open in September.

Nadal's most recent Grand Slam championship victory, meanwhile, came at the 2022 French Open.

"This is the truth. The rest are tastes, inspiration, sensations that one or the other may transmit to you, that you may like one or the other more," the lefty said. "I think that with respect to titles, Djokovic is the best in history and there is nothing to discuss about that."

The 37-year-old Nadal has missed the past three majors due to an ongoing hip injury and didn't compete at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open in 2021 either. According to the report, he hasn't played in a tournament since falling in the second round of this year's Australian Open.

Nadal said in May that he'd be pulling out of the French Open and expected 2024 to be the final season of his career.

Longtime friend and rival Roger Federer (who is third with 20 Grand Slam championships) announced his retirement in September 2022.

Djokovic has been as good as ever in 2023 and has the numbers to back it up. If there's one player who could challenge him in the near future though, Nadal says it's Alcaraz, and vice versa.

"He has been the world No. 1 until recently. Although he's very young right now, practically the only rival I see for him is Djokovic," Nadal said.