Djokovic’s mother explains how mental and physical Novak’s matches vs. Federer and Nadal are

For the last two decades, three players have dominated the game of tennis. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have won a combined 55 Grand Slam titles in their careers. They are nicknamed “The Big Three.” of tennis. Their dominance continued this year as the Serbian and the Spaniard swept all the major titles. Nadal won the French and US Open while Djokovic won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Novak had to overcome both Rafa and Federer in the finals to win his 15^th and 16^th Grand Slam titles.

How has his mental strength improved?

Djokovic’s mother, Dijana Djokovic, has spoken about her son’s preparations for matches against Federer and Nadal. She revealed to GQ magazine that the current world No.1 always looks forward to matches against his fellow “Big Three” contemporaries. The world number one views the matches as special and is always ready to give his best effort. The Serbian also focuses on being physically and mentally prepared to face his Grand Slam rivals since matches against the two are always difficult. Dijana said, “He is working on himself and preparing for every match, especially when playing Nadal or Federer.

How Djokovic defeated Federer in Wimbledon

This year, Djokovic has defeated Nadal and Federer in Grand Slam finals. At the Australian Open, he defeated Rafa in straight sets to win the match. His match against the Swiss was not as straightforward. Novak and the 20-time Grand Slam champion played the match for over five hours. The Serbian was two match points down in the deciding set. At that moment, it seemed that the world number one would lose the match. The crowd was cheering for Federer who would have won his ninth Wimbledon title. Dijana, who was watching on from the players’ box, said she took out her rosary and prayed for her son. Djokovic pulled off the comeback and recovered to win the set in a tight victory.

Dijana has praised her son for showing mental strength to overcome Federer in the Wimbledon final. She has observed that her son is not as popular as the Swiss and the Spaniard. At Wimbledon, the crowd was cheering more for the current world No.3 than Djokovic. The Serbian, however, has revealed that he had a trick up his sleeve. The 32-year-old said that as the crowd was chanting for Federer, he turned the cheers around in his head and assumed they were cheering for him.

Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2019

Now the world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 11^th of October when he surrendered to Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the quarter in Shanghai.

This year Novak has a 48-9 win-loss record. The Serbian has won 4 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Madrid, in Wimbledon and in Tokyo. Djokovic was the finalist in Rome.

Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2019

Ranked no.3, Roger played his last match on the 11^th of October when he was defeated by Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-7⁷ 6-3 in the quarter in Shanghai.

This year the Swiss has a 45-8 win-loss record. The Swiss has won 3 titles in 2019 in Dubai, in Miami and in Halle. The Swiss was the finalist in Indian Wells and in Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer played each other 49 times. The head to head is 27-22 for Djokovic.

The last time that they competed against each other, Novak Djokovic won 7-6⁵ 1-6 7-6⁴ 4-6 13-12³ in the final in Wimbledon in 14^th July 2019.

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