Djokovic's father voices his opinion

In an interesting interview to News Week, Srdjan Djokovic, Novak's father, has spoken about his son's rivals releasing interesting words about Roger Federer and his behavior in a match against Novak. It was 2006 when Serbia played Switzerland in Davis Cup in Geneva: 'Novak was just 19 at the time. He had a deviation of his sinuses and couldn’t breathe. He had a problem with staying in long matches and long points. And Federer tried in every possible way to disrespect him because of his breathing problem.' - Srdjan said. From that match they played other 43 times against each other, and now head to head see Djokovic leading 23-22.

He is not the first person around Djokovic's attorney who speaks negatively about the relationship between Djokovic and Federer. Last July, Boris Becker said that they were false friends. But Djokovic's father criticized Federer for other reasons too: 'Nobody has ever treated Novak like this. I don’t understand why Federer is still playing tennis. Why does he still play? He’s already 34.'

Instead on Rafael Nadal Srdjan spent beautiful words. He hopes the Spaniard will comeback at a high level: 'Rafael Nadal has been a legend of one era, but his game is very different from Novak and Federer. He spends a lot of energy on court. With this kind of style, it’s very hard to maintain a high level. But tennis still needs Nadal; he needs to come back. I hope he can play another two or three years at a high level.'

Srdjan also spoke about Andy Murray. According to him, Andy, who is a good friend of Nole, should achieve his potential: 'Murray is a great talent. One of the biggest ever, and a big part of it is not being used, because his mindset is not calm. He gets frustrated very easily. When he’s winning he has booming confidence, but once he starts losing, his mind turns around and he looks lost. He starts talking to his box, and this distracts his mind. If he learns how to calm down, he will have a far bigger career than he has by now. I would love for Murray to achieve his potential.'

Srdjan's goal for the rest of Novak's career is declared: becoming the best player of all time. He thinks Nole, who has 11 Grand Slam titles, will succeed to do it: 'I have been saying it since he entered tennis. Surely he will be one of the best sportsmen ever. All of this it's because he was sent from God. As a family, we tried to make God’s wish come true. He can win other 10 Grand Slams'.

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Djokovics-father-My-Son-will-be-the-Best-in-Histor-articolo30997.html

I read the entire interview in Serbian.

Nothing new for me.
The only stupid thing he said was about Federer still playing at 34 but it may have been taken out of context to stir controversy.

Srdjan is a strong character and a very passionste man.
One of those who could move mountains with sheer will.

He made superhuman effort to get Nole on the pro scene, so can't really be compared with the off-the peg route most other top players have had.

It's just two different worlds.

I didn't get the impression he likes Nadal (in fact, I know he doesn't), only Murray gets a pass.

But yes, Fed has always been arrogant towards Nole.

No love lost between the two.

In short, another crappy article aimed at pegging Nole down.

Must be because Serbia is the only country in the whole region resisting joining NATO, too  )

His comments about Federer still playing is almost as ridiculous as him saying that Novak can win another 10 majors!!!!

There is a paragraph in the interview in which he talks about the difference of bringing up children there and in the West, that we stay together all our lives.

And he really burnt out trying to pave the way for his son.
He metaphorically kind of grew an extra few inches taller, stood on his tiptoes just so his son could reach for the stars from standing on his shoulders.

He is a bit obsessed with him in a way, so not surprised with his blind belief in Nole.

Your comments are spot on. But what I really like and appreciate that he says his opinions frankly and call the things right names, which is more and more rare these days.

Rather such honesty than Fed & Nadal friendship.

My mate did this interview! But it got ripped apart by editing.

I can 100% confirm tho he hates Feds, not taken out of context.

Veejay wrote:In an interesting interview to News Week, Srdjan Djokovic, Novak's father, has spoken about his son's rivals releasing interesting words about Roger Federer and his behavior in a match against Novak. It was 2006 when Serbia played Switzerland in Davis Cup in Geneva: 'Novak was just 19 at the time. He had a deviation of his sinuses and couldn’t breathe. He had a problem with staying in long matches and long points. And Federer tried in every possible way to disrespect him because of his breathing problem.' - Srdjan said. From that match they played other 43 times against each other, and now head to head see Djokovic leading 23-22.

Does anyone believe this? This means he had not full access to stuff available to Nadal and Murray had. A professional athlete with nasal issues? yeah.... Again we have more of those nowadays.

Instead on Rafael Nadal Srdjan spent beautiful words. He hopes the Spaniard will comeback at a high level: 'Rafael Nadal has been a legend of one era, but his game is very different from Novak and Federer. He spends a lot of energy on court. With this kind of style, it’s very hard to maintain a high level. But tennis still needs Nadal; he needs to come back. I hope he can play another two or three years at a high level.'

Yeah Nadal is a great player who can make Djoko look good. federer will always make Djoko look like a talentless scrapper. That might be his issue.

Srdjan also spoke about Andy Murray. According to him, Andy, who is a good friend of Nole, should achieve his potential: 'Murray is a great talent. One of the biggest ever, and a big part of it is not being used, because his mindset is not calm. He gets frustrated very easily. When he’s winning he has booming confidence, but once he starts losing, his mind turns around and he looks lost. He starts talking to his box, and this distracts his mind. If he learns how to calm down, he will have a far bigger career than he has by now. I would love for Murray to achieve his potential.'

Same as above. No danger about Murray. Well tamed by Djoko.

Srdjan's goal for the rest of Novak's career is declared: becoming the best player of all time. He thinks Nole, who has 11 Grand Slam titles, will succeed to do it: 'I have been saying it since he entered tennis. Surely he will be one of the best sportsmen ever. All of this it's because he was sent from God. As a family, we tried to make God’s wish come true. He can win other 10 Grand Slams'.

It woudl be very sad the day this kind of tennis can amass more slams than federer. We are not there yet.

luvsports! wrote:My mate did this interview! But it got ripped apart by editing.

I can 100% confirm tho he hates Feds, not taken out of context.

Yes, he does.
And it's not because Fed makes Nole look like a scrapper.

German Swiss think everyone south of Switzerland is a lower race, maybe that's why.

I never liked Djoko's family. In particular his father. he looks like a Chelsea fan who has won the lottery.

Tenez wrote:I never liked Djoko's family. In particular his father. he looks like a Chelsea fan who has won the lottery.

Yet you like gum chewing, Stan hackling, bling wearing Mirka...

For the record, I am not crazy about Nole's family either, but at least they don't pretend to be what they are not.

I can't say I like Mirka. I don;t mind her...and yes she behaved stupidly in that WTF semi.

Fed is is simply in a different class. he doesn;t need to pretend. He is!

"Novak was just 19 at the time. He had a deviation of his sinuses and couldn’t breathe."

There are some very useful TUEs against that problem. In fact it's astonishing how many pro athletes suffer from respiratory problems.

"The prevalence of asthma amongst sportspeople is, in general, higher than for the standard population. In cycling, it has been claimed to be quite elevated in various scientific studies. For example a study of 699 athletes who competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta reported that 45% of the cyclists had active asthma and were taking medication for it [Weiler JM, Layton T, Hunt M., J Allergy Clin Immunol 1998 Nov;102(5)-6]."

Yet those poor sickly athletes can crush their healthy rivals, like Marit Bjorgen (asthma) does in X-country skiing.

noleisthebest wrote:German Swiss think everyone south of Switzerland is a lower race, maybe that's why.

This is a sweeping statement and quite offensive toward the Swiss, racist in fact. They are not one person who all have such a (stupid) racist opinion about all (no less!) people south of their borders. Hopefully other Serbians are more reasonable when it comes to judging other countries and people. 

I have been in closer contact with 2 persons from German-speaking Switzerland so far (one of them a journalist at NZZ) and both were great, warm persons who wouldn't even think in such categories.

ETA: Or are you suggesting that specific persons from Switzerland are disrespecting those peoples and this is somehow relevant to Srdjan's low opinion of Federer? Surely you cannot talk about Federer himself as he is well known for friendly relationships with players from that area (Ljubicic, Mirnyj, Dolgopolov, Dimitrov) and even married one Miroslava.

Not sure why you feel the need to excuse the statements by Djokovic's father. He is embarrassing his son with how off they are and they will reflect badly on him. He's asking why is Federer still playing? Really? A guy who played 2 major finals just last year? Unbelievable.

Autumnleaf wrote:"Novak was just 19 at the time. He had a deviation of his sinuses and couldn’t breathe."

There are some very useful TUEs against that problem. In fact it's astonishing how many pro athletes suffer from respiratory problems.

"The prevalence of asthma amongst sportspeople is, in general, higher than for the standard population. In cycling, it has been claimed to be quite elevated in various scientific studies. For example a study of 699 athletes who competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta reported that 45% of the cyclists had active asthma and were taking medication for it [Weiler JM, Layton T, Hunt M., J Allergy Clin Immunol 1998 Nov;102(5)-6]."

Yet those poor sickly athletes can crush their healthy rivals, like Marit Bjorgen (asthma) does in X-country skiing.

I have no reason to disbelieve his father's statement about asthma and nose deviation.
I know both Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic had a similar problem and had surgeries.

I remember the days when he couldn't catch breath in matches and had to retire.
And how Federer mocked him about it telling him to get fit and if he is not fit not to bother playing. He also boasted that he never retired in his career.
That was very low and it came to haunt him in a big way when he retired from WTF final against Djokovic.

Fed is second to none as a tennis player, but there is no need for idolisation, at least not on my part.

He is a tennis player and nothing else.

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:German Swiss think everyone south of Switzerland is a lower race, maybe that's why.

This is a sweeping statement and quite offensive toward the Swiss, racist in fact. They are not one person who all have such a (stupid) racist opinion about all (no less!) people south of their borders. Hopefully other Serbians are more reasonable when it comes to judging other countries and people. 

I have been in closer contact with 2 persons from German-speaking Switzerland so far (one of them a journalist at NZZ) and both were great, warm persons who wouldn't even think in such categories.

ETA: Or are you suggesting that specific persons from Switzerland are disrespecting those peoples and this is somehow relevant to Srdjan's low opinion of Federer? Surely you cannot talk about Federer himself as he is well known for friendly relationships with players from that area (Ljubicic, Mirnyj, Dolgopolov, Dimitrov) and even married one Miroslava.

Not sure why you feel the need to excuse the statements by Djokovic's father. He is embarrassing his son with how off they are and they will reflect badly on him. He's asking why is Federer still playing? Really? A guy who played 2 major finals just last year? Unbelievable.

I lived in Switzerland for just under two years in 2005-6 with my British passport and heard them speak freely about their national views thinking I was English.
Swiss are racist and big time at that.

Having said that, that's actually the thing I liked about them, they had strict immigration laws and didn't let any Tom Dick and Harry mess their country up like it's the case in the rest of Europe.

Younger generations are unfortunately being brainwashed with Western pop culture and sucked in into politically correct thinkng etc...

It's all a very thin facade anyway.

noleisthebest wrote:I have no reason to disbelieve his father's statement about asthma and nose deviation.
I know both Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic had a similar problem and had surgeries.

I must say that both elite athletes suffered from breathing problems makes this more suspicious, not less. Just astonishing how many top athletes suffer from "asthma", but are still performing at an extremely high level. It's natural to suffer from "breathing problems" after a lung-busting rally. And MTOs are not allowed for preexisting issues anyway. Djokovic himself admitted after the 2005 USO match vs. Monfils that he had used several MTOs to his advantage while in truth his opponent was simply fitter. 

"The timeouts helped me a lot, he was physically better prepared than me." (Djokovic 2005)

And Monfils who didn't want to get drawn in the controversy: "I just don't know if he was faking it or it was for real."

Which is exactly what he was criticized for by Federer when he did the same thing vs. Wawrinka, almost verbatim ("I don't trust his injuries....") Obviously Federer also went over the top as that was clearly an emotional issue for him. Should have left it there, but took the bait to go for more.

I don't expect any impartiality from Djokovic's father in that matter though. Nor from you.

noleisthebest wrote:Fed is second to none as a tennis player, but there is no need for idolisation, at least not on my part.

Completely agree. The same goes for Djokovic though.

noleisthebest wrote:Swiss are racist and big time at that. 

Yes, all of them. No exceptions. Not supporting immigration laws is not the same as looking down on other people. I'm also not in favour of lax immigration, not because I think other people are less, but because they are different which endangers national feeling of community.

And just to clear things up: Do you think that Djokovic's father holds this 10-year-old grudge because of the supposed attitude toward Serbs from "the Swiss"? Because that's how I understood your post. Iirc Novak has a good relationship with Wawrinka though.

In Switzerland all non-German Swiss are considered second-rate.
That is unspoken knowledge.

It's sad but true.

As for Nole, I am his compatriot so do understand him a bit better than most which doesn't mean I idolise him as you suggest.

Bottom line, Federer was unnecessarily arrogant towards him, which he never was towards Nadal for example, on the contrary.

Here's the infamous interview:

http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus09/news/story?id=3863682

noleisthebest wrote:As for Nole, I am his compatriot so do understand him a bit better than most which doesn't mean I idolise him as you suggest.

It does mean that you have much more compassion/ understanding for him than you have for any other player.

noleisthebest wrote:Here's the infamous interview:

http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus09/news/story?id=3863682

Yes, but this is already after several incidents, starting with the DC 2006. By then Novak had got a reputation for easily retiring, because of issues like "sore throat". 

I can't fault Federer for criticizing Novak because of this, people pay a lot for their tickets and expect to see a good match, but he's chosing hard words and it's obvious that is because he doesn't connect with Novak on a personal level. It's got nothing to do with Novak's Serbian heritage though because he is very close to Ljubicic who has a similar yugoslavian background.

Well I just said, I understand him better, it's a different culture.

That doesn't mean I like all he does and justify some of his choices.

I loved his outspokedness when he turned up on the scene, that he stood up to Nadal, said he wanted to be number one, that was quite cool for someone with his background.

Much better than the sugary fake PR  friendship between Fed and Nadal.

Anyway...he is fit now and doesn't retire so often...

noleisthebest wrote:Anyway...he is fit now and doesn't retire so often...

Exactly. Sometimes it's "be careful what you wish for."

As for the Fedal relationship I couldn't opine whether it's fake or not, but it's entirely possible that they really relate better to each other personally. It happens - and without any reason too, simple chemnistry.

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Here's the infamous interview:

http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus09/news/story?id=3863682

Yes, but this is already after several incidents, starting with the DC 2006. By then Novak had got a reputation for easily retiring, because of issues like "sore throat". 

I can't fault Federer for criticizing Novak because of this, people pay a lot for their tickets and expect to see a good match, but he's chosing hard words and it's obvious that is because he doesn't connect with Novak on a personal level. It's got nothing to do with Novak's Serbian heritage though because he is very close to Ljubicic who has a similar yugoslavian background.

I agree...but imagine if Nole said stg like this of him after Fed's WTF retirement FROM THE FINAL:

"Well, he's retired because he doesn't have the stomach for the fight and doesn't want to lose to me.
I am sure he'll be fine next weekend for Davis Cup."

Not nice, is it?

noleisthebest wrote:I agree...but imagine if Nole said stg like this of him after Fed's WTF retirement FROM THE FINAL:

"Well, he's retired because he doesn't have the stomach for the fight and doesn't want to lose to me.
I am sure he'll be fine next weekend for Davis Cup."

Obviously not nice and also uncalled for because there is no history of such things to have happened in the past. While Novak had a history.... If Federer was already known for withdrawing from matches that he has little chance to win, it would be justified in my mind to call him out for it. I'd also be disgusted at such an attitude, because a champion should always believe in his chance - however small. He who doesn't try, has already lost.

A w/o is also slightly different wrt the crowd because it can get compensated at least partly while with retirement they won't see any money back. As a paying spectator I'd rather see a w/o than a 0-3 ret., where one guy can't move (have seen such a Nishikori match, wondered why he even started, he was absolutely useless). There's zero fun in that.

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Fed is second to none as a tennis player, but there is no need for idolisation, at least not on my part.

Completely agree. The same goes for Djokovic though.

It's interesting because though I don't typically idolize people I am appreciating Federer's talent like I appreciate a Vivaldi or a Mozart. It's out of this world. A living Michelangelo....almost.

And that is mind blowing when you think about it.