Novak Djokovic expresses his admiration for Roger Federer: Tennis is not the same without him

By | Bullscore 1 Feb, 2023

Novak Djokovic expresses his admiration for Roger Federer: Tennis is not the same without him

In tennis, the players who compete against each other often have a lot of respect for one another.

Tennis players Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal have competed against each other for a long time, and have won many big tournaments.

They have a lot of respect for one another and have won more than 60 Grand Slam titles combined.

Even though Roger Federer has retired and Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are getting close to the end of their careers, they are still doing well in the rankings and are still considered to be strong competitors for tournaments.

On Wednesday, Djokovic easily defeated fifth seed Andrey Rublev and afterward expressed his admiration for Federer, stating that the sport of tennis is not the same without him.

Despite concerns about a hamstring injury, Djokovic performed exceptionally well and easily defeated the Russian opponent with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. This win marked his 26th consecutive victory at the tournament, where he has previously claimed victory on nine separate occasions.

After securing his spot in the semifinals, Djokovic, a 21-time Grand Slam champion, hit 32 winners and 14 aces during the one-sided match. He appeared pleased during his post-match interview with former world number one Jim Courier at Rod Laver Arena and reminisced about his first major semi-final and the subsequent defeat to the Swiss tennis player.

“I think it was [the] US Open back in 2007,” Djokovic said after the match.

“It seems quite a long time ago, actually, now. I was fortunate to win that semi-final, but in the final, I lost to Roger [Federer].”

Djokovic received applause from the audience, and instead of continuing with his answer in the interview, he took a moment to honor his former competitor.

“Let us give him a big round of applause, to Roger, guys,” Djokovic continued.

“He deserves it! I had some great battles over the years with Roger, that is for sure. Tennis misses him, for sure.

“I have seen him dressing up very sharply for [Paris] Fashion Week the other day!

“I have seen him skiing. I want to challenge him for a little skiing race in a few years’ time. But, yeah, he is enjoying life, for sure, it is nice to see that.

“Obviously for tennis, he has been one of the most important players ever to play the game. So, big regards to his family.”

In the upcoming semi-final match, Djokovic will be competing against Tommy Paul, who had defeated another American player, Ben Shelton, with a score of 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarter-final match on Wednesday.