During the Australian Open 2024, Novak Djokovic disclosed how Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had united against him at the start of his career. He cited several reasons for it, and one among them was that they didn’t like his behavior early on. Djokovic was one of the first players to consistently challenge Federer, and the then World No. 1 from Switzerland didn’t appreciate it. The Serb’s antics on the court played a role in developing the famous Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer rivalry.
Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the 2008 Australian Open final for the first time. While this sowed the seeds of their bitter rivalry, a previous on-court moment had also triggered it once. The 24-time Grand Slam winner from Serbia has no qualms in openly admitting that he has a great relationship and is much more comfortable with the current crop of players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as compared to his Big Three counterparts. Even though, Sinner just defeated him in the AO semi-finals for the first time.
The moment in context was the 2006 Davis Cup clash between Serbia & Montenegro and Switzerland. The last of the World Group Playoffs matches between Djokovic’s and Federer’s nations created intense heat. Federer completely owned Djokovic, throwing some amazing shots at him to which the Serb had no answers. On the other hand, Djokovic was constantly getting agitated and annoyed with himself, even throwing his racket at one point.
However, Federer got annoyed when the game was consistently stopped a few times by Djokovic’s trainer. The reason for that was Djokovic’s injury. The Serb caught his foot at one point as his trainers rushed to the court. While this seems harmless enough, Federer suspected it might be to throw him off his rhythm. The Swiss player was looking in terrific touch, and as we’ve seen in many sports when the flow is broken, the momentum shifts.
After that match, Roger Federer’s annoyance only intensified when Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka played next. Federer saw it from the sidelines and could examine even better how disadvantageous it could be to one’s opponent when the game is frequently paused in the middle. While he bore all of it throughout the match, his frustration was exhibited once Switzerland beat Serbia 4-1 in the match.
He celebrated very animatedly and vigorously with Wawrinka, a rarity in tennis after Switzerland won 4-1. Djokovic watched all of it from the losing side, and one can only imagine, vowed to take revenge against Federer.
While this might not have been enough to start the legendary Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer rivalry, the Swiss star further fueled it by calling Djokovic’s behavior “fake” and a “joke”. At the press conference, he didn’t even spare a thought for Djokovic’s injury before bashing him.
“I don’t trust his injuries. I’m serious. I think he’s a joke, you know, when it comes down to his injuries. I was just upset at him calling the trainer out for no obvious reason against my buddy, Stan, in a five-setter,” said Federer.
While Djokovic, then 19 years old, didn’t comment much on that matter, he did remember the treatment he got from him. He poured all of that in his recent The Times UK interview, where he revealed he knew all of that and felt sidelined by Federer and Nadal. While Djokovic’s injury did look genuine, Federer back then was far more livid than his later years. It is hard to say whether he is justified or not, but distractions in a game, no matter in what form, is bound to annoy a player.
Although this started a serious rivalry, Federer didn’t want to have any bad blood between them. So, in 2012 at the Madrid Open, he tried to make amends with Djokovic and call that incident ‘water under the bridge’. The Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer rivalry turned out to be more fierce on the court, playing the Grand Slam finals 5 times, with Djokovic winning 4 out of them. Such has been the improvement on his game since.
Their relationship has only improved from there on, up until Federer’s retirement in 2022 where Djokovic was one of those present to pay him tribute. This was at the Rod Laver Cup, where Team World defeated Team Europe for the first time by 13-8. Their rivalry remains the stuff of legends.
