Swiss legend talks about his rivalry with Djokovic.
There was a historical moment in the history of tennis in which the duopoly between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal seemed impossible to challenge.
Until the arrival of a tennis player from Belgrade, who over time has entered the elite of world tennis, transforming giving life to the era of the Big Three. In a recent interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, the Swiss legend recalled his battles with Novak Djokovic, spending words of esteem against the 24-time Slam champion.
Roger Federer is happy with his new life
Roger Federer spoke about his first match against the 37-year-old Serbian, recalling that there was not the same clamor around the advent of Djokovic as Rafa Nadal.
“When I played against Novak for the first time in Monaco (2006, win in three sets; ed.), I don’t remember that there was a big fuss. It was not said: Novak arrives! It was not said that he could rewrite the history books.
With Rafa it was different. There was more power behind it,” said Federer. The Swiss added: “When I played against Novak, he still made some technical mistakes. Then the best players were usually the ones with the best technique.
It wasn’t necessarily that in itself. That’s why at the time it was thought that this might be his undoing. But then he managed to balance it all. Added to that was the new racket technology, which helped the entire generation after me.
Things were going so fast for me when I was a junior and even after. The rhythm of the places. You had to play differently. I was the transition and Novak was the beginning of the new generation. Amazing what he got”.
A certificate of esteem by Roger to a rival who, together with him and the Spaniard tennis player, wrote the history of the sport.
Federer did everything to get on the field at Wimbledon and in 2021 he showed up in England without too many expectations considering the knee surgery and the continuous problems. Despite the pain, Federer went to the quarterfinals, but it was at that juncture that his body gave way.