Roger Federer Wishes Novak Djokovic Success as He Reflects on his Legacy

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the grass at Wimbledon (Reuters/Hannah McKay)

In an interview in which he looked back on his final days as a professional tennis player and spoke about the legacy of his remarkable career, Roger Federer recalled his great rivals of that time and expressed a heartfelt wish for Novak Djokovic.

“I hope Novak can continue to smash all the records,” said the Swiss in an interview with the podcast What Now? with Trevor Noahel, which he gave as part of the presentation of his recently released documentary “Federer: The Last Twelve Days.”

He said this when asked about the relationship between players and their rivalries, and in his response the 42-year-old former tennis player also hoped that Andy Murray “can play as much as his hip allows him” and that Rafael Nadal “can win as much as possible.”

The wishes came at almost the same time as Djokovic reached a Federer record. Nole made his Wimbledon debut with a victory over Czech Vit Kopriva (6-1, 6-2, 6-2) in his quest for his eighth crown at the Cathedral. With this triumph he reached the second round 19 times on the London grass, a particular statistic in the Open Era that he now shares with the Swiss.

In the recently released documentary, Federer praised the current world number 2, although he admitted that in their first encounters he did not believe his rival would go so far. The two have met 50 times (27 wins for the Serb against 23 for the Swiss) throughout their careers.

“I first played him in Monaco 2006, where I walked off the court and thought, ‘Yeah, he’s good,’” he said. However, he admitted he wasn’t entirely convinced at the time: “I think I didn’t give him the respect he deserved because of his technical flaws. I felt he had an extreme forehand grip, although his backhand wasn’t as fluid as it is today. Afterwards he grandly ignored those things and became a monstrous, incredible player.”

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at the event that marked the Swiss’s farewell to competition (Reuters/Andrew Boyers)

Roger also spoke about the initial rejection Nole received from fans and assumed it was related to the fact that he had intruded on his rivalry with Nadal. “I guess my and Rafa’s fans considered them a spoilsport. There was a lot of love there, so when they came along probably a lot of people thought: ‘Look, we don’t need a third. We are happy with Roger and Rafa’,” he said.

The Swiss also acknowledged that some of his own fans did not like Djokovic because they thought he made things easier for him. “Then Novak came along with his strong personality and his amazing desire to win at any cost,” he said, before reflecting on his evolution as a person. “He has been a bit misunderstood. I look back and see the man he has become. If I take his game from him, who is he? What are his values? I know he cares a lot about his family,” he concluded.

In the interview published yesterday, Federer finally spoke about what it meant to retire from competition: “I played 1,526 matches. I’m so relieved not to have to go through that anymore. I mean, it was fun, but especially towards the end, I remember the warm-ups, the breaks and the warm-ups to go out and play a match. It was a monumental effort. Now you say: ‘What’s so important? It’s just tennis. ’ Yes, it’s just tennis, but it’s your life and you’ve tried to do your best in front of people. Now, I really feel relieved and I see any athlete or any person who gives their best level that has all my respect.”

2024-07-03 22:21:07
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