Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has shared that retired Swiss player Roger Federer didn’t like him early in his career. Djokovic made the comments after his victory in the Australia Open third round on January 19 over Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Serb, one of the most decorated players of the game with 24 grand slam titles, shared the thoughts after being asked to reflect on his career as a newcomer.
“I know certainly Federer didn’t like the way I was behaving at the beginning,” he said at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. “I think it didn’t sit with him well. I don’t know about the others. I guess I wasn’t the favourite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world.”
“I was confident, and I felt like I have the game to back it up. Obviously on the court a lot of things can happen in a kind of heat of a battle. It was a very long time ago now, 20 years since I made my first debut I think on the professional tour. It’s really hard to say who liked me more or less.” added Djokovic.
Federer, considered one of the tennis greats of all time, retired with 20 grand slam titles. The Swiss and the Serb played 50 times with Federer winning 23 times while Djokovic managing 27 wins. Djokovic, along with Spain’s Rafael Nadal (22 grand slam titles) and Federer, makes the Big Three of tennis.
Currently, Djokovic is chasing his record-breaking 25th grand slam title and 11th Australia Open. He started out patchy in the tournament but has now raced back to his best as visible in his straight set victory over Etcheverry.
Djokovic next plays against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the round of 16 on Sunday (Jan 21).
