Novak Djokovic: I am grateful to play with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
A few days ago, the seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander said that he thinks Novak Djokovic will hold 22 Grand Slam titles once his career ends, more than Roger Federer who currently holds 20.
The Serbian player said: "I appreciate, of course, nice words and compliments from Mats. He's one of the legends of our sport and someone who made history of this sport. If I'm not mistaken, he was one of the first players to hold three out of four slams in a year, '88, exactly. So he's someone that is around the tour that travels a lot and follows tennis. I had an interview with him several days ago, so I thank him for nice words. I will not say more than that. I don't know what to say. I have never played or fought against cactus in my life, so when I do that, if I get a chance, then I will answer your question. Look, you know, I think I have answered this question before. Right now, of course, if you ask me about Federer, Nadal, I am grateful to be part of the era with them, because I think they made me the player I am today. You know, the success that I had, especially on the Grand Slams, was also due to the kind of a need to improve and to get better to win against these guys. I think most of my Grand Slam final matches and semifinal matches were against these guys. So I needed to learn how to overcome probably the biggest challenge of my career to win against Federer, Nadal in Grand Slams. Early phases of my career, first three, four, five years, I lost most of the matches I played against them in Grand Slams, and I didn't manage to figure things out that early in the career, but that was the process. And at that time, if you ask me the same question, I'd probably say, you know, I'm not really grateful to be part of the same era with them, but it's been a great learning curve with me playing with these guys. It still is the same. You know, it still is the case. I still consider these two guys my biggest rivals."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2JU5Brg
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