"I started to panic a bit" - Roger Federer has the most 'aura' compared to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, suggests Denis Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov picked Roger Federer as the player with the most aura over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The Canadian concluded his 2024 season at the Davis Cup Finals and is currently enjoying an off-season break.
Shapovalov was coming back from an injury lay-off into the season and struggled to gain momentum, failing to secure any notable wins in the early part of the year. However, he managed to secure the second ATP title of his career at the Serbia Open, beating Hamad Medjedovic in straight sets in the final.
The strong performances in Belgrade improved the Canadian's ranking to World No. 56 before he delivered an impressive performance at the Davis Cup Finals to send his nation to the final. However, Canada lost to Italy in the final, marking the end of the season for Shapovalov.
The former World No.10 recently appeared on the 'All on the Table Talk Show' and weighed in on the tennis player with the most aura among the Big 3 alongside Dominic Theim and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Shapovalov picked Federer and claimed he still panics on seeing the Swiss great.
"Roger. To me like still to this day, I saw Roger in Halle last year and I started to panic," he said.
The 25-year-old added that he would get along well with Novak Djokovic.
"I feel like Novak you get along with him, maybe I had more practices and stuff with him," Denis Shapovalov added.
Joining Shapovalov in praise of Federer, Kokkinakis differentiated the Swiss from Nadal and Djokovic in his style of play.
“At least when Rafa plays, he’s like grunting… you feel like he’s getting pushed around. Nole’s like sliding and stuff. Federer just looks like taking the piss,” he said.
The Canadian agreed and said:
“But to me, they’re so different. Rafa was like so predictable, you knew exactly what he’s going to do but he’s just so good at it that you can’t do anything,” he added.
Denis Shapovalov was left feeling like a 'junior' in his only match against Roger Federer
Denis Shapovalov's only encounter against Roger Federer came during the semifinals of the 2019 Miami Open when the Canadian was arguably in the best form of his life. However, a relentless Federer defeated him in just an hour and 13 minutes, making him feel like a 'junior' in front of the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“Federer can literally make you feel like a junior. I played him in Miami semi-finals, dude, I beat good players, I beat Rublev, I beat Tiafoe on the way there, I beat some other guys and I felt like a junior on the court. It was insane," he recalled.
While Shapovalov is winless against Novak Djokovic in the eight matches he played against the Serbian, he won two against Rafael Nadal out of the six times they played.