Australian Open 2023 - Advantage, Novak Djokovic in the race to be tennis' GOAT - ESPN

As Djokovic hugged each member of his players' box, and before he was able to raise the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, a familiar discussion began to circulate.

And while it's near impossible to definitively answer this until the Big Three era has officially drawn to a close, there's no doubt Djokovic's fortnight Down Under has seen him put his nose in front, once again.

He humiliated local hero Alex de Minaur in the fourth round, repeated the dose against fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and cruised by American Tommy Paul in a lopsided semifinal.

But no matter whether your allegiances lie with Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, there's no denying the Serbian's Slam wins figure could have grown significantly higher over the past 30 months, if not for the pandemic and some polarizing personal decisions.

Again, there's no guarantee he would have lifted the silverware, but with a number of his main rivals sitting out the event for various reasons -- notably Nadal and Federer -- few were brave enough to pick against him.

Meanwhile, Nadal, 36, is set to miss up to two months of tennis after suffering a Grade 2 iliopsoas injury during his straight-sets loss in the second round to American Mackenzie McDonald.