Roger Federer would have never been defaulted from the US Open if he had done what Novak Djokovic did back in 2020, according to one former Grand Slam finalist.
Niki Pilic, who reached the final of the 1973 French Open, believes the world No.1 has been mistreated by the Western world because they have trouble with him ‘being the best.’ Djokovic has won three out of the four Grand Slam titles in 2021 with the only exception being the US Open where he finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev. He is currently tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most major titles won but holds the record for most weeks spent at the top of the ATP rankings.
The Croatian tennis veteran believes there is a case of double standards in the sport when it comes to Djokovic. At the 2020 US Open he was disqualified from the tournament after hitting a ball which hit a lines judge. Something which is an instant default under the official rulebook but Pilic says others wouldn’t have received the same penalty.
“I think his success has hurt the West in a different way”, Tennis Majors quoted Pilic as saying during a recent interview with newspaper Vecernji list. “By their understanding of things, the level Djokovic has reached was reserved for someone from the West; and then comes a guy from a small country to dominate the world of tennis. Had Roger Federer done what Djokovic did at the US Open 2020, he would not have been disqualified. (The West) has a problem with Djokovic being the best“.
Pilic represented Yugoslavia as a player and played in a total of 38 Grand Slam main draws. He was the catalyst behind the 1973 Wimbledon boycott after he was banned from playing in the tournament by his national association for allegedly refusing to play a Davis Cup tie. 13 out of 16 seeded players withdrew from the tournament in support of Pilic. After retirement, he enjoyed great success in the Davis Cup by guiding three different countries to the trophy – Germany three times, Croatia in 2005 and Serbia in 2010.
Djokovic trained at Pilic’s tennis academy in Germany during his teenage years and refers to him as his ‘tennis father.’ According to the Croat, he was reluctant to label him the greatest of all time until this year.
“Djokovic is just phenomenal, he has worked a lot, with no shortcuts. I remember that Serbian journalists were all over me in 2019 trying to get me to say that Novak is the best. I did not want to say it until he won Wimbledon this year. The day he did that, I took a complete and thorough look at the numbers. Novak has got the same number of slam titles as Nadal and Federer, better head-to-head against both, and he is going towards 350 weeks at the top of the rankings,” he said.
“Djokovic has won the most Masters titles, he is the only player to have won every Slam at least twice, and at one point he had almost 17.000 ATP points – in that moment, he accumulated more points than Murray, Nadal and Federer combined. I am not being biased, Novak is the best of all time.” Pilic added.
Djokovic currently leads the ATP rankings with more than 1000 points. He has pulled out of this week’s BNP Paribas Open and it is unclear when he will return to the Tour. His win-loss for the season currently stands at 44-6.
