Between the big tennis trio Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, it was never about great camaraderie in the past, everyone went hard for success and titles. For many years, Federer and Nadal enjoyed the great favor of the media and sponsors, while Djokovic was on the sidelines of interest.
Photo: John Walton / PA Images / Profimedia
Novak Djokovic felt that the pair of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did not accept him after his breakthrough to the top.
The Serbian tennis player decided to talk about why he felt unaccepted by the legendary Swiss and Spanish tennis player.
Djokovic believes Federer and Nadal have distanced themselves from him many times because they didn’t like the huge confidence he displayed from the early days of his professional career. But the Serb didn’t have any problems with that, because according to him, that’s how rivalry works.
When Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, Federer already had 12 and Nadal had three.
However, he was bold enough to publicly declare that he had what it takes to challenge the two of them to the title of greatest tennis player of all time. And although nothing was ever publicly confirmed, there were whispers that Federer didn’t like him very much.
“At the beginning of my career, I was not accepted because I went on the court and showed that I was confident, that I wanted to win. And I don’t think both of them would like this approach,” the 37-year-old native of Belgrade told GQ magazine.
He explained that in those days, most of the top tennis players only went to play against them, not to win. “And because of that confident attitude, they probably distanced themselves from me even more. And that’s okay. I accepted it as it is. I understood the message I received that we were rivals and nothing else.’
In the same interview, Djokovic also noted that it’s very difficult to be friends on Tour with your biggest rivals. The Serb is now a record 24-time Grand Slam champion, while Nadal finished with 22 and Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles.
Finally, Djokovic surpassed his main rivals not only in the number of Grand Slam titles, but also in terms of head-to-head matches. And since both have already ended their careers, nothing will change about them. Against Federer, the Serb has a record of 27 wins, 23 losses – against Nadal, 31 wins and 29 losses.
Although the current world number seven has had far more Grand Slam success in the last years of their shared rivalry, Federer has been much more accepting of him than Nadal.
When the Swiss decided to retire, he invited Djokovic to be part of Team Europe’s squad for the Laver Cup. As for Nadal, he has spoken very positively about the Serb many times over the past few years, finally publicly declaring that Djokovic is the best player in history – at least in terms of achievements.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
