The chance to be crowned the GOAT of men's tennis, as well as the chance to play for the Australian Open title on Sunday, gave Nadal the chance to move clear in the race.
The number of Grand Slam titles is the easiest metric to determine who is the greatest of all time.
After winning his 21st major title in the Australian Open, Spaniard Nadal moved one ahead of his two rivals for the top spot in Grand Slam singles victories.
It is possible that the Australian Open title will be a factor in the race.
For some, the GOAT discussion is frivolous and does not reflect the achievements of each player.
The numbers do not tell the whole story. It is not possible to quantify their different playing styles, how they have adapted their games, their physical and mental strength, or how they have overcome the tough moments that have plagued all of their careers.
The framework for the debate is provided by it. You can have your say in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
The race to be crowned the GOAT is tighter between the top three men than many thought it would be.
Few thought that he would ever be caught after he overtook Pete Sampras as the all-time leader in Grand Slam titles.
At that time, Nadal had won six majors and the Serbian had not added to his maiden title at the Australian Open.
After winning at least one major in every year from 2003-2010, the trajectory began to plateau in 2011.
The Swiss player did not win another major for four years because of a combination of his rivals brilliance and his injuries.
He was written off as Nadal and Djokovic closed on his tally, but his resurgence in the second half of the year kept him at least three titles ahead.
The trio were closer than ever after Nadal and Djokovic shared the four majors.
For the first time since he was level with Sampras in 2009, there was company for the first time after Nadal won the French Open last year.
After winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2021, he pulled level.
He missed the chance to add to his nine wins in Melbourne when he was deported from Australia for not being vaccine proof.
The Serb is a year younger than Nadal and has more time on his side than the Swiss.
The argument is that Nadal is not as complete an all-round player as he could be.
In Paris, the King of Clay has won 13 of his 21 major titles. In the history of the sport, no male or female has been as dominant as either of them.
Over the years, they have both won a Grand Slam, and they hold the record for the number of men's titles won.
The Australian Open hard courts have been the scene of nine of the 20 victories by the Serbian, while the Wimbledon grass has been the site of eight of the 20 majors won by the Swiss.
Nadal and Novak have both won at least two Slams on each surface.
Nadal has become the second man in the Open era to win each of the four majors twice, after defeating Medvedev. In France, he has only won once.
This is another area where his claims are strengthened. He has a better head-to-head record against both of them.
The Spaniard has a better record against the Serb in Grand Slam meetings than he has against the Swiss.
The length of time spent as the world number one is an indicator.
It has been the most weeks at the top of the men's rankings for Novak Djokovic. The Serb has been at the top of the rankings for 358 weeks, after Nadal beat Medvedev.
Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, and Nadal are all trailing behind, with the exception of Nadal.
There are a lot of important tournaments that feed into this conversation.
In his career, he has won the most titles. Jimmy Connors is the only man to have bettered this tally in the men's game.
The end-of-season ATP Tour Finals is considered a fifth Grand Slam by most people.
The Swiss have won six of those events, which see a round-robin group followed by a knockout stage for the world's top eight leading players over the season.
Nadal has never won the event.
Nadal has missed five of the past 10 tournaments, but he has been a two-time runner-up.
The next tier of events are the Masters tournaments.
Since 2009, these have been held on hard courts in Indian Wells, Miami, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai, and Paris Bercy, with clay-court events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
Eight were held last year because of the coronaviruses, which did not take place in Shanghai.
In Paris, the Masters title was claimed by the Serbian, who has now won 37 of them, moving ahead of Nadal, who won in Rome earlier in the year. Behind the pair are other people.
The only man to win all nine Masters tournaments in the same year was the one who won all of them.
Now that you have considered the evidence, who do you think is the GOAT? The comments section is where you can have your say.
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