Roger Federer: 'It was Novak Djokovic’s time'

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won 56 of the last 67 Slams played, since the Swiss' triumph at Wimbledon in 2003. The last player - outside the Big 3 - capable of winning a Major was Stan Wawrinka at the US Open in 2016.

“When you look back and you look at the 4 and a half or five years that I didn’t win a slam, people almost make it sound like I was playing terrible. I had a tough year in 2013 with a lot of back pain from Indian Wells on throughout the summer,” recalled Federer in a conversation with Gustavo Kuerten.

“Honestly it was I think the time of Novak and Rafa also was keeping a lock on the French Open as we all know. So it was difficult to slide in a special victory,” he added.

“I think I was able to keep pushing because I believed I was very close and I had a good team and I never lost motivation. And I enjoyed the practice. I was able to keep going and then the injury came  2016 and then that was a tough year for me. And I obviously had thoughts if this is going to be the end or not,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion continued.

Federer has won a record 20 grand slam titles, while Djokovic has won 17 grand slams titles. They share the all-time record of 11 hard court grand slam titles (Australian Open and US Open). Federer and Djokovic have contested many acclaimed matches over the years, the most prominent being the 2019 Wimbledon final, the longest final in Wimbledon's history. The 2010 US Open, 2011 US Open, 2011 French Open, and 2018 Paris Masters semifinals along with the 2014 Wimbledon and 2015 Wimbledon finals are other notable matches they have contested.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3d2VgnB