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News
- 17 Oct 2025
GOAT meets GOAT as Cristiano Ronaldo gives Novak Djokovic a special gift
Martin Macdonald
- 21 Oct 2025 10:15 CDT
- 5 min read
News
Cristiano Ronaldo and Novak Djokovic are two of the greatest sportsmen of all time and many would consider the pair to be the best footballer and best tenner player ever, respectively.
CR7 has enjoyed and continues to enjoy a distinguished career that includes multiple league and cup wins as well as five Champions League titles and a European Championships victory with Portugal. On a personal level, he has won five Ballon d'Or trophies, is the top goalscorer in the history of international football and the Champions League, while he is the only player ever to score at least 100 goals for four different clubs.
No football has made more senior appearances or scored more goals than Ronaldo.
As for Djokovic, his reputation is only growing now that his 'Big Four' pals - Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray - have all retired.
The Serbian has won more tennis majors than any other male player in history, with 24.
Both Ronaldo and Djokovic are known for their supreme physical conditioning so it makes sense that there would be a mutual respect between the pair as they are also both in their twilight years in their respective disciplines.
Indeed, they recently met in Portugal where Djokovic was gifted a signed Al-Nassr shirt by Cristiano, who himself received a signed Lacoste shirt.
Djokovic praises Ronaldo
Djokovic recently name-dropped Ronaldo when discussing how he takes inspiration from some of his fellow older statesmen and women in sport.
“Longevity is one of my biggest motivations," he said at an event in Riyadh.
"I really want to see how far I can go. If you see across all the global sports, LeBron James, he's still going strong, he's 40, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Tom Brady played till he was 40-something years old. I mean, it's unbelievable. They're inspiring me as well. So I want to keep going and that's one of the motivations I have."
The Serbian previously said on Nick Kyrgios' podcast: “I identify with Tom Brady as well. And Serena [Williams] is first of all, the incredible mind of a champion, just incredible hunger for success, for improvement. Cristiano Ronaldo is also like that. But just willing on a daily basis. To take your body, your mind, your character, your emotions, to a different level. To be a better version every single day. And to crush the borders and limits that everyone imposes on you.”
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