"I didn't give Novak Djokovic the respect he deserved" - Roger Federer reveals his early impressions of a then 'technically-flawed' Serb
Roger Federer opened up about his early impressions of Novak Djokovic in a recent interview, admitting that he didn't give the Serb the respect he deserved at the time. As for why, the Swiss icon justified his response back then by pointing out that Djokovic was far from the 'unbelievable' player he's today when they first meet.
Djokovic and Federer have one of the fiercest rivalries in modern tennis, having played 50 times on the ATP Tour. The head-to-head is 27-23 in favor of the Serb, who won six of their last seven meetings.
Their first encounter came in 2006, in the Round of 64 at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Swiss was the World No. 1 at the time, while Djokovic had to qualify for the main draw. Interestingly, he was still representing Serbia and Montenegro at the tournament, a country that no longer exists today following the seceding of Montenegro that same year.
Despite the obvious mismatch in terms of reputation coming into the contest, Djokovic pushed the 20-time Grand Slam champion to three sets before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Recalling that match during behind-the-scenes footage from his upcoming 'Roger: Twelve Final Days,' Federer revealed that he walked off the court afterwards thinking Djokovic was just 'OK.' He emphasized that the now 37-year-old's backhand was not as fluid as it is nowadays and that he wasn't fully convinced by the hype around him.
At the same time, the former World No. 1 conceded that Novak Djokovic has ironed out all those flaws to become a "monster of a player" now.
"I played him in Monaco the very first time (Federer won 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in 2006), and I walked off the court and thought, ‘Yeah, he’s OK,'" Federer said.
“Even though there was some hype around him, I wasn’t really fully convinced. I think I didn’t give Novak the respect he deserved because of his technical flaws. I felt like Novak had a very extreme forehand grip, and his backhand for me wasn’t as fluid as it is nowadays. But then he ironed those things out super well and became an unbelievable monster of a player," he added.
After beating Djokovic, the Swiss icon reached the final of the 2006 Monte-Carlo Masters but fell to defending champion Rafael Nadal.
"Roger Federer didn't like the way I was behaving at the beginning" - Novak Djokovic
In a press conference during the 2024 Australian Open, Novak Djokovic himself spoke about his relationship with Roger Federer, admitting that Swiss didn't like the way he behaved at the beginning.
The World No. 3 believes that it was a sentiment shared by many top players at the time, as he feels they didn't like the way he went around confidently saying that he had what it took to be the best in the world.
"I know certainly Federer didn't like the way I was behaving at the beginning. I think it didn't sit with him well. I don't know about the others."
"I guess I wasn't the favorite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world. I was kind of - not kind of - I was confident, and I felt like I have the game to back it up," he added.
In the years since, though, the two appear to have repaired their relationship, with Federer time and again expressing his admiration for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.