Roger Federer has revealed his honest view of young Novak Djokovic as a youngster when he made a breakthrough on the tour as a challenger.
The Swiss maestro admitted that he was not fully convinced by the hype around a young Djokovic who later went on to take over him and Rafael Nadal as the most successful Grand Slam champion.
Federer and Djokovic made one of the greatest tennis rivalries with the Serbian winning 27 of their 50 matches between 2006 and 2020 before the Swiss called day on his illustrious career in 2022.
The duo first met in the opening round of the 2006 Monte Carlo Masters when Federer has already established himself as the World No. 1 and won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 against Djokovic who entered the main draw after passing his qualifiers assignment.
Federer in a new Amazon Prime documentary, Federer: Twelve Final Days, candidly narrated his first impression of Djokovic.
“I think he’s been a little bit misunderstood,” declared the former World No. 1.
“I played him in Monaco the very first time and I walked off the court and thought, ‘Yeah, he’s okay’.
“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.”
The 20-time major champion also talked about the reaction of his and Nadal’s fans after the emergence of Djokovic on the scene.
“I guess he was the party crasher of Rafa and Roger fans,” Federer continued.
“There was a lot of Rafa-Roger love there, so when Novak came probably a lot of people said, ‘Look, we don’t need a third guy. We’re happy with Roger and Rafa’.
“The Federer fans at the beginning didn’t really like him because they just thought, ‘Roger’s a bit more easy, he does it with ease’.
“Then Novak came in with his strong personality and that unbelievable grit of wanting to win at all costs. I think also Novak was triggered by the relationship with the fans. I think that deep focus maybe scared some people away.
“I think he’s been a little bit misunderstood. I look past the media and I see at the end the man he is. If I take away his game, who is he? What are his values? I know he cares very deeply about his family.”
During the 2024 Australian Open, Djokovic mentioned Federer when asked if any older players were critical of his behavior during early days of his career.
“That’s a good question. I mean, 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,” the 24-time Major winner said.
“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.
“I never, ever lacked respect. Whenever I start a match, before the match or finish the match, I would always greet the opponent, always acknowledge. Respect is something that I was taught that needs to be present regardless of what is happening.
“Obviously on the court a lot of things can happen in a kind of heat of a battle. It was very long time ago now, 20 years since I made my first debut I think on the professional tour.
“It’s really hard to say who liked me more or less. I think I named one, so I don’t know. I can’t recall others.”