Richard Pagliaro | @tennis_now | Friday, June 13, 2025
Image source: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty
4 Big Champions stand at a poignant and powerful Roland Garros tribute ceremony Rafa Nadal last month.
Now, Grand Slam King Novak Djokovic IS opened his relationship with his four major champions.
In new interview SlavenaBilića24-time Major Champion Djokovic said that despite his respect for all his competitors, he is always better than Roger Federer than the king of Clay Rafael Nadal. Djokovic said that from his perspective, their historical warfare was a professional challenge, not a personal resentment.
“Just because someone is my biggest competitor, it doesn’t mean I want them to hurt them, hate them or want to do anything else on the court to beat them,” Djokovic said. “We fight for victory and better players win…
“I never said a bad thing to them, nor will I ever. I looked up at them, but I still did it, but I always got better with Nadal.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eioWgnv4Lzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rity2wlwk6c
Djokovic said: “I have never been loved like Federer and Nadal.
“I acted, still feeling like an unnecessary child,” Djokovic said. “I asked myself why that was. It hurt me.
“Then, I thought that if I did something different, fans would accept me, but that wasn’t the case.
“I’ve never been loved like Federer and Nadal because I shouldn’t be there. I’m the little guy and the third one comes and says, ‘I’m not 1’. A lot of people don’t like that.”
