Novak Djokovic shouldn’t be ruled out of contention for US Open glory, according to his former on-court nemesis Roger Federer.
The Serbian 39-year-old enters this year’s New York major having played one singles match since Wimbledon, which was at the Cincinnati Masters where he suffered a shock loss to Thiago Agustín Tirante. He has played just six tournaments so far this season, with three of those being at major events. His best results were runner-up at the Australian Open and semi-finalist at Wimbledon.
Djokovic will be gunning for a historic 25th Grand Slam trophy at the US Open, where the field has opened up following the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner due to a right knee injury. Furthermore, there is uncertainty surrounding defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who will be playing his first Tour-level event since April following a wrist injury.
Federer, who has played the Serbian 50 times during his illustrious career, believes he has a chance at glory. The Swiss maestro spoke to the media on Monday ahead of his US Open return for an exhibition match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I feel like whenever Novak enters any tournament, for that matter, or a major, he’ll have a shot,” he said. “Anyway, that’s my opinion. I have many high regards of Novak. I’ve see what he can do, not just once, not just here or there. He’s done it in every place and at the highest of levels.”
“I always think that as long as he’s in the draw, there’s a chance. I think that’s also one of the reasons he’s still playing, because he actually truly must believe that he can still do it. That’s my opinion, too.”
Federer won 23 out of 50 matches against Djokovic during his career. Five of those meetings were in Grand Slam finals.
“We played each other 50 times on all different surfaces and all the biggest courts. He was a pleasure to play against,” Federer said. “Incredible player, unbelievable fighter. Figured out his game, became bigger and stronger and better. It’s amazing he’s still going. I’m very impressed.”
A long-awaited return for the Hall of Famer
Federer is a five-time US Open champion and the last man to have won the event in consecutive years. He last played in New York seven years ago after withdrawing from the 2020 draw due to injury before retiring in September 2022.
The Wednesday exhibition will see him play one set of singles against Andy Roddick. Then he will partner with John McEnroe to play Roddick and Andre Agassi in a doubles match. Federer describes his clash against Agassi in the 2005 US Open final as his favourite match played at the tournament.
It will be intriguing to see what sort of form the 45-year-old is in. However, he has dismissed the idea of staging a comeback like Serena Williams, who is one year younger than him.
“No, not at all,” he replied when asked if he considers coming out of retirement.
“Thanks for asking. I wasn’t sure if the question was going to get asked, but I’m happy you did so I can clarify in case anybody thought.
“You have to enter the doping pool. Like, God, there’s way too many obstacles, and I’m too busy. I’m barely finding time to play any exos.”
On August 29th, Federer will be inducted into The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. He has won 103 ATP titles during his career, with 20 of those being at a Grand Slam and another 28 at Masters 1000 events. He has spent 310 weeks as world No.1, which is the second-longest streak in ATP history after Djokovic (428 weeks).
“The induction gives me a chance to look back, and also being able to start a foundation that I still have, I guess, to a degree, the power of the microphone, being able to speak about subjects that I like to speak about,” he said.
“I’m in a very comfortable place today, but I’m still happy to be out there and being in the tennis world from time to time, because it is the glue to everything that surrounds me still today.
“ I had the best time, had a lot of friends on tour, from players to people who were organisers, et cetera. So I hope that a lot of the players who retire also feel the same way about the game because I care dearly.”
