Live Federer on Djokovic`s early career: I don`t think I gave Novak the respect he deserved
Roger Federer spoke about how he treated Novak Djokovic at the beginning of his career.
I remember playing him for the first time in Monaco (2006, Federer won 6:3, 2:6, 6:3 - Sports) and leaving the court thinking: He`s okay. Even with all the hype around it, I wasn`t entirely sure.
I think I didn`t give Novak the respect he deserved because of his technical shortcomings. It seemed to me that Novak had a very extreme forehand grip, and his backhand, in my opinion, was not as smooth as it is now. But then he corrected it very well and became an incredible monster on the court.
I think he was an uninvited guest for the fans of Rafa and Roger. There were a lot of them back then, and maybe when Novak came along, people said: Look, we don`t need a third guy. Roger and Rafa are enough for us.
At first my fans didn`t like him very much because they thought: Roger is a little more graceful, he does it with ease. And then Novak showed a strong character and an incredible desire to win at any cost.
I think that Novak was also attracted by the relationship with the fans. I think his deep focus may have scared some people away.
He was a little misunderstood. I look at him through the prism of the media and see what kind of person he is. If you take away his game, then who is he? What are his values? I know he cares deeply about his family
Federer also talked about how his relationship with Rafael Nadal developed.
I think our relationship started in a friendly manner. And then came the rivalry. I lost my first match predicted by
livescore soccer against him and for the first time I said: I don`t want to see this guy on our site. I like to be on top alone. So I had to look for a way out, for strength within myself, saying: So, how can I deal with this now? . Because it was a little crazy. I simply could not understand and unravel it.
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