Novak Djokovic says Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal prevented him from winning more Grand Slams early in his career but also credits them for making him extremely determined and motivated to improve and ultimately reach his current heights.
After establishing himself as a major talent and making a couple of deep Grand Slam runs in 2007, the Serb became a Major champion at the start of the 2008 season after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open final. While he remained a top player in the next couple of years, his second Slam victory didn’t come until exactly three years later when he won his second title at Melbourne Park.
By the time Djokovic won his second Major, Federer had already been well above 10 Slam wins. On the other side, Nadal had nine of those in his collection.
But that 2011 season was the game-changer for the Serb – who won three Majors that year – and then started dominating the Slam scene and going from the hunter to the hunted. Now, he owns an all-time record of 24 Slam titles while the Swiss finished with 20 and the Spaniard is set to retire next month with 22 titles in that category.
Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
“It took me three years to win my second Grand Slam and I was No. 3 in the world for those three years. I was also No. 2 in 2009 and I was playing at a very high level, but I couldn’t get to win Grand Slams because of those two. They dominated everything. I didn’t have the formula to beat them,” Djokovic said in an interview with La Nacion.
“I was able to win one or two matches against them, but not the important ones. Those three years were crucial for my development. They made me hungrier to win, especially against them. I knew that if I could find a way to be like those guys in the big matches, and I knew a lot of that came from the mind, I could somehow figure out the Grand Slams and start winning more. And that’s what happened.”
Uncle Toni’s bold take on the Djokovic-Nadal Slam race
For years, many felt that the debate for the greatest of all time would come down to who finished with the most Grand Slams. Addressing that in early 2022, Uncle Toni suggested that his nephew would have won more Majors and definitely go down as “the best” had he stayed healthier throughout his career.
“I try not to be a fan of anyone or anything. Not of my nephew nor anyone else. Fans have closed minds. It’s hard to say who the best is, you have to talk about who has won the most titles. If my nephew hadn’t had so many injuries, and this isn’t because I’m his uncle, he would have been the best. There’s not a lot between Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. But I think Roger has reached higher heights,” Uncle Toni said in one of his interviews from early 2022 when asked who was the best ever.
After Nadal won back-to-back titles at the 2022 Australian Open and French Open to improve to 22 Slams, Djokovic was going through lots of drama regarding his vaccine stance but he was also still recovering from the Australia visa saga. However, the 37-year-old Serb was able to overcome all the adversity and challenges and win four titles since then.
While the Spaniard himself acknowledged in one of his interviews that the Serb was “the best ever,” his uncle Toni recently again suggested that the situation could have easily been different.
“Who is the best? Novak Djokovic. Because he won more titles than the others. Who could be the best without injuries? My nephew,” Uncle Toni said in September.
What Nadal said about Djokovic this week?
At the inaugural Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, the retiring Spaniard was asked what made his relationship with Federer “special.” Answering the question, the former world No. 1 also highlighted that he had something “special” with the Serb too.
“Of course, with Roger Federer has been special, but with Novak too, I have a good relationship. It’s the way that you approach the sport I think. That’s possible because in the end, that’s possible because, as I said before, we understand that that’s all you get. In life, we have many more important things outside of tennis,” Nadal said on DAZN earlier this week.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
On Saturday, the Spanish tennis icon and Djokovic play for the third place at the Six Kings Slam. Since Nadal is retiring at next month’s Davis Cup Finals and Serbia isn’t playing there, this was the last meeting between the two as pros.