There shouldn't have been a loser in Federer-Djokovic final, says Pilic
In an interview, former Novak Djokovic's coach Niki Pilic praised the Serbian player and Roger Federer. "Fantastic... I am sorry someone had to lose. If there were two winners in a match, that's where it would be. They may have played the best tennis in the world. Novak did not serve great but he was amazing from the baseline."
The former top ten player Mario Ancic hit with Djokovic in a pre-match warm-up. "He asked me to serve where Federer would, to come to the net in a similar way... There are no secrets between them", said the Croat. "We knew that all the fans would have been on Federer's side and that he had to ignore it focusing only on himself. After this, every Grand Slam will be so interesting. Each of them wants more, wants his legacy to grow."
"That's the most dramatic match I have ever watched. It was the most important match ever, along with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in 1980 final and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in 2008. Clearly, Goran Ivanisevic-Patrick Rafter match is there too. We all know why. Novak was a bit lucky. His mentality and heart made a difference. That's why he is one of the greatest guys of all time. For me it was an amazing match, their match-up is fascinating because they have totally different game styles. You should thank Ivan Ljubicic who prepared Federer in a great way. It's his credit because when you look at how Federer played the two matches against Nadal and Djokovic, you can see Ljubicic's help. Against Nadal, he reduced the unforced errors because he knew he would have been punished every once. Against Djokovic, he constantly hit slices, low and short. He often hit serve to Djokovic's body to compete against the best returner in the world. I know that Marian Vajda and Goran Ivanisevic told Novak to hit the backhand as most as possible to deal with the opponent's aggressive shots. Five hours of drama and tennis, and in the end, one ball is the key. Novak is terribly strong mentally."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2MlMir5
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