Srdjan Djokovic is yet to forgive Roger Federer after an incident between his son and the Swiss player almost ten years ago.
In September 2006, 19-year-old Novak Djokovic played against Stanislas Wawrinka in the Davis Cup playoffs. Throughout the match Djokovic called for a series of medical time outs to treat a sinus issue. The Serbian won the match against Wawrinka, to give his country their only win in their 4-1 loss to Switzerland. Controversy erupted over comments made by Federer during the clash.
“I don’t trust his injuries. I’m serious. I think he’s a joke, you know, when it comes down to his injuries.‘ Federer said during the 2006 clash.
Since those famous comments both men has spoken highly of each other. The two have played each other 45 times on the tour in one of the greatest rivalries in the history of tennis. Djokovic narrowly leads the head-to-head 23-22. Speaking about his 2006 comments, Federer dismissed any speculation of a conflict between him and the Serbian.
“I was just upset at him calling the trainer out for no obvious reason against my buddy, Stan, in a five setter,” Federer said in 2012.
“That was it. We had a quick chat about it in Madrid after that, and things are cool since a long time between me and him. I’ve always respected him”.
The incident might be behind both men, however, they are still fresh in the mind of Djokovic’s father. During an interview with Newsweek, Srdjan was critical of the 17-time Grand Slam champion and even questioned why he was still playing tennis.
“ Federer tried in every possible way to disrespect him because of his breathing problem.” Srdjan told Newsweek.
“Nobody has ever treated Novak like this. I don’t understand why Federer is still playing tennis. I don’t know why he’s still playing—he’s already 34. ”
The comments from the former skiing instructor are unsurprising considering his previous comments about the Swiss player. Speaking with Serbian media in 2013, he labelled Federer as the greatest player in the world, however, as a man ‘he was the opposite’.
Srdjan was full of praise concerning Djokovic’s mental strength during his matches against Federer. Djokovic is currently the world No.1 and has a 17-1 win-loss this season. Despite being almost unbeatable on the court, he can at times struggle with his popularity compared to Federer. On numerous occasions, the majority of the crowd has been on the side of Federer when he is playing against the world No.1. One notable example of this was during the 2015 US Open final.
“Out of 24,000 people, 23,000 were cheering for Federer. [Novak] won the match, took the microphone and said, ‘You are the best crowd in the world.’” Srdjan said about the New York final.
“This is his mental strength—like granite.”
Besides Federer, Srdjan also spoke about another of his sons rival’s, Andy Murray. Unlike Federer, he spoke most fondly about the Brit. Despite both players being ranked in the world’s top two, their head-to-head is one-sided with Djokovic currently leading 22-9. Srdjan said that the mental ability of Murray in one thing that is letting his game down.
“Murray is a great, great talent, one of the biggest ever, and a big part of it is not being used, because his mindset is not calm,” Srdjan says.
“He gets frustrated very easily. When he’s winning he has booming confidence, but once he starts losing, his mind turns around and he looks lost. He starts talking to his box, and this distracts his mind. If he learns to calm down, he will have a far bigger career than he has by now. I would love for Murray to achieve his potential.”
The full interview can be read here.
