'I knew how to play Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - but Novak Djokovic was different'

Former finalist has claimed that was a tougher opponent than both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The debate over who reigns supreme among 'the big three' continues to stir debate, with opinions split regarding their careers and collection of accolades.

The trio stand out in men's tennis as the only players to have amassed over 20 Grand Slam titles each. hung up his racket with 20 and bowed out last November with 22, leaving Djokovic leading the pack with 24 and counting.

The 34-year-old Canadian believes Djokovic's unique ability to instil self-doubt in his adversaries sets him apart from .

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"When you played with Roger, you knew what you had to do, but there were a lot of moments where it wasn't up to you. This guy could make you look very, very bad," Raonic said on the Changeover podcast.

"He could play at a level that nobody else could match at times. He could make the experience of being on the court with him really unpleasant. But if you could keep up with him, the idea of what you had to do was much clearer.

"With Rafa, it wasn't obvious whether you had the opportunity to win the match. Before you stepped on the court, you knew you were going to give it your all because he would be there until the last point.

"And then the unique thing with Novak was like, even watching other players play him a lot, you get in the rallies, you do all these things right, Novak does this thing where he plays down the middle a lot more than everybody else, but then just takes away angles from you."

He continued: "You'll lose to him [Djokovic] 7-6, 6-4, and you'll be like, 'Okay I felt good, I was hitting the ball well' and what you'll do is you'll go watch the match and you'll just look at it and be like, 'I felt I was in it' but rewinding it you're like, 'I really didn't have any chances'.

"The strategy wasn't clear when you played Novak. With the other two, it was clear what you needed to do, but with Novak, it was like, what do I need to do this time?".

Raonic's head-to-head with all three seems to reinforce his comments. He has five wins in total, with three coming against Federer, and two against Nadal, as per .

He's yet to secure a victory against Djokovic, with the head-to-head record standing at a daunting 12-0 in favour of the 37-year-old tennis legend.

Raonic currently sits at No. 449 in the rankings, a far cry from his career-high No. 3 spot back in 2016. His notable achievements include reaching the All England Club final in 2016, where he was defeated by .

He also made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2016 and 2014 respectively.

Despite a commendable run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, which saw him beat Carlos Alcaraz, and some strong performances leading up to the Madrid Open in March, Djokovic has endured a rocky season so far. He also withdrew from the recent Italian Open without providing an explanation.

However, as Roland Garros kicks off on May 25, Djokovic will be gunning for his fourth title in Paris, aiming to cement his status as the greatest tennis player in history.