WORLD TENNIS : UNBEATABLE DJOKOVIC UNFURLED

''NO one more unbeatable'' than Djokovic at his best. Former number four says Martin says Serb has played tennis better than anyone else.

CANBERRA : There is no one more unbeatable in men's tennis than Novak Djokovic when the Serb is at his best, former world number four American Todd Martin has said.

Reigning number one Djokovic has already established himself as one of the best ever to play the game and the Serb's Grand Slam haul of of 17 is just 3 behind the 20 that Roger Federer has amassed. The Swiss player will be 39 in August.

While Federer is nearing the end of the of a glittering career, Spanish left-hander Rafa Nadal is just one behind with 19 majors and will 34 next month. Djokovic is the youngest of the so-called ''Big Three'' and will be 33 later in May.

The triumvirate have shared the last 13 Grand Slam titles, re-emerging the GOAT [greatest of all time] debate.

''Roger is the most aesthetically pleasing I have ever seen,'' Martin, who was part of the Dijokovic coaching team briefly in 2009- 2010, told Tennis365. ''He is pleasing with the serve, he is pleasing with the return, offence, defence........everything he does really looks beautiful.

''For me though, if Novak is right, if Novak is confident and comfortable with his physical status and is really focused, I've never seen anybody more unbeatable. This guy has played the game better than anyone else ever has, in my opinion.''

Djokovic was in imperious form before the novel coronavirus pandemic brought the circuit to a halt in early March.

He lifted the ATP Cup with Serbia, won an eighth Australian Open title and then completed a fifth triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships, extending his unbeaten run to 21.

''His athleticism is from another world,'' said Martin, who reached two Grand Slam finals. ''His return of serve is way better than any other returner of serve ever and I mean way better.

''Having worked with him, when he is focused he has that ''I'm going through a brick wall mentality'. Now he is not always focused, but when he is and we have seen this for long stretches, he doesn't have to play great He is that much of a fighter and thrives on it.''

The virus forced the cancellation of this year's Wimbledon for the first time since World War Two while the French Open was pushed back from its May start to September, shortly after they scheduled end of the US Open.

Federer, who is current;y ranked Fourth, last played at the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he lost to Djokovic, before undergoing a keyhole surgery on his knee in February. [AFP]