A tennis star has made a surprising claim about Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are tennis’s Big Three (Image: Getty)
Novak Djokovic is the ‘easiest’ of tennis’ Big Three to play against, one of the Serb’s former opponents has boldly claimed. The 24-time Grand Slam champion and newly-crowned Olympic king is the sport’s most decorated star, but Steve Johnson found coming up against Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer much harder.
Johnson played a total of five matches against Djokovic, Nadal and Federer without winning a single set. The American’s only clash with Djokovic came in the 2018 Cincinnati Masters quarter-final.
However, Johnson insists that he preferred playing against Djokovic rather than Nadal and Federer because the 37-year-old allows his opponents to compete in rallies. Nadal, meanwhile, ‘bullies’ players while Federer ‘suffocated’ those on the other side of the court.
Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast, Johnson said: “All three of those guys are completely different. I feel like Roger suffocates you, he takes the complete game out of your hands
“Rafa, he can just completely bully you around the court, and look, this is obviously a crazy statement, but Novak is the easiest to play of the three because he lets you play tennis – you can get into the rallies.”
Djokovic is fresh from yet another triumph – winning gold at the Olympics. It was one of the only honours that remained elusive during a trophy-laden career before he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final earlier this month.
The veteran sought revenge over Alcaraz for his defeat in their Wimbledon showdown just a month earlier, and won in straight sets at the French Open’s Roland Garros venue. He insisted that Olympic gold was the greatest achievement of his career.
Djokovic said: “Olympic Games come every four years so the opportunity to win gold for your country is very rare and I knew the fact that I’m 37 and I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have, I knew everything.”
He added: “Everything that I felt in that moment when I won really surpassed everything I thought or hoped that it would. I thought that carrying the flag at the opening ceremony (in London) was the best feeling ever until I experienced this today.
“And being on that court with the Serbian flag raising, singing the Serbian anthem, with the gold around my neck, I think nothing can beat that in terms of professional sport. It definitely stands out as the biggest sporting achievement I had.”