Had it not been for injury, it may have been Rafael Nadal with a clear lead over the likes of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

That's according to his uncle Toni Nadal who was discussing the legacy of the Big Three and how injuries have prevented his nephew from adding to his Grand Slam tally.

“I think Federer and Nadal have transcended their sport more than Djokovic. And Federer has transcended his sport more than anyone else,” Toni said in an interview with Clay (via Tennis 365). “When it comes to categorizing who is the best, we would have to establish clear standards that are always a bit open to opinion, because who is the best, the one who holds the [Grand Slam] world record or the one who wins the Olympics? I don’t know.

“I think the one who has managed to play at a better level and do more difficult things is Federer, the one who has won more is Djokovic and if we were to count all the things Rafael hasn’t played because of injury, he would probably have won more than the others.”

It's a fair assessment, even if there's natural bias involved for Toni who coached the 22-time Grand Slam winner from his childhood until 2017.

It's because of injury that Rafael Nadal has missed the French Open and Wimbledon this year, let alone the total of 13 Grand Slams he's missed overall along with five withdrawals. Who knows how many he would have had if he was fit for even half of those?

But as far as Toni is concerned, there's another factor one should consider when discussing Djokovic and Nadal, and that's the surfaces of three of the four Grand Slams.

“Well, Djokovic is better because he has won more titles than Rafael,” he added. “If Djokovic is 23? But let’s establish a number of things, we live in a tour that is always played on fast courts. My nephew always plays three Grand Slams on the surface he doesn’t do well and one on the surface he does well.

“He has always played all the Masters (ATP Finals) on the surface he doesn’t do well on. In the world of sport, the officials can tip the balance one way or the other. Who wins the Tour de France? If the sports officials puts in the mountains, one type of rider will win it, and if he puts in a time trial, another type of rider will win it.”