Over the years, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have had one of the fiercest rivalries tennis has ever seen. Their battles have gone the distance, with the duo facing each other an astonishing 50 times. Current World No.1 Djokovic won 27 of those matches. Recently, WTA legend Ana Ivanovic compared these two icons of the sporting world on the EssentiallySports Fancast.
Both Federer and Djokovic are the biggest stars in their country with massive fan following. Despite this, one big thing separates these two legends, according to Ivanovic.
Ana Ivanovic on fans’ love for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on ES Fancast
During her playing days, Ana Ivanovic herself was very popular on the tennis circuit. Hailing from a country that had a rich tennis history and culture, Ivanovic enjoyed strong support from local fans. Similarly, Novak Djokovic also has a loyal fanbase in his native country. However, the cultural differences between Serbia and Switzerland make big differences as to how the countries’ fans react.
Talking about this on the ES Fancast, Ivanovic said, “It’s incredible of course and uh also you have to think about the different countries and different mentalities in a way and the Serbians are very uh passionate, very emotional.” Further, she went on to add, “So of course, everything is magnified…he’s uh he’s really like the king of the of the country.”
Nonetheless, both Federer and Djokovic are global sporting superstars in their own way. While the latter has the most number of Grand Slam men’s singles titles, Federer has mesmerized fans with his audacious displays on the court. With Federer calling time on his illustrious career in 2022, Djokovic is still going strong. The Serb is even adopting a Federer-like transformation to prolong his career.
Djokovic going the Federer way
During the latter stages of his career, the Swiss maestro introduced the SABR technique – Sneak Attack By Roger. The technique required an aggressive approach, with players approaching the net after serve. Russian tennis legend Mikhail Youzhny highlighted how Djokovic is using this skill to his advantage as well.
He said, “He really knows his body and knows how to use the energy during the match. Tennis-wise, he continued to improve. Working with Ivanisevic, he started going more to the net – in Bercy in 2021, he went to the net so many times against Medvedev, which changed the course of the match. He wasn’t able to make such a switch in the past.”
Djokovic will be eying the elusive Olympic gold medal later this year following a disappointing Australian Open campaign. It’ll be interesting to see if he can come back stronger in the upcoming tournaments.
