Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer had a huge rivalry during the last 2 decades. Even if their relationship was a little bit complicated at the very beginning, they have always respected each other.
Even if Novak Djokovic keeps on breaking every record, and he is very well aware of what Roger Federer means for tennis. Unfortunately, Federer had to undergo a third operation on his knee, and there are doubts about his comeback on the main tour, given also the fact that he is already 40.
During the press conference that followed Novak Djokovic’s successful match at the ATP finals against Andrey Rublev, the Serbian champion shared his admiration for Roger. Nole commented:
“Obviously Roger is an icon of our sport and people around the world love him. They love watching him play, love seeing him around. He’s very important for our sport on and off the court.
For the sake of our sport, I sincerely hope that we can see him play at least another time. You know, I’m sure he doesn’t want to end his career this way. I think he’s gonna definitely try to give it a last push, a last try. I’m not sure what his injury is, and I know he’s been struggling with a knee for quite a few years. So, yeah, let’s see.”
You know, I think for everything that he has achieved and created for this sport, he deserves to play and he deserves to have a proper farewell, I mean, if his injury is not allowing him to play, so to say, more frequently on the tour.”
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Novak Djokovic in 2021
Now ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 17th of November when he beat world no.5 Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-2 in the round robin in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).
This season Novak has an overall 50-6 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 5 titles in 2021 at the Australian Open, in Belgrade, at the French Open, in Wimbledon and in Paris. The Serbian got to the final in Rome and at the U.S. Open.
Roger Federer in 2021
At the moment ranked no.16, Roger played his last match on the 7th of July when he lost to world no.9 Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 7-6(4) 6-0 in the quarter in Wimbledon (draw).
At the moment, during this season Federer has a compiled 9-4 match record.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer faced off 50 times. Their actual record is 27-23 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time when they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 7-6(1) 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal in Melbourne (Australian Open) in January 2020.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer |
| Embed from Getty Images |
