Djokovic ‘buried’ Federer: "Things are changing …"

Tennis is marked so far into the 21st century by the struggle of three men to be the best in history. Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have been adding titles to their lofty record over the yearsand only the Spaniard at the last Australian Open was able to break the triple tie in the 20 Grand Slams they have retained.

The reality is that time has passed and the harder it is to see the three legends in action, the more not together. Nadal and Djokovic finally coincided this week in Madrid after the start of the season marked the Serbian out of several tournaments due to his refusal to be vaccinated, and later the Balearic were absent after suffering a rib injury during the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells.

But it is beyond water. this Saturday as well faces will be seen again on the occasion of the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Openwhich some consider the great rivalry of recent years.

This is the case in itself Djokovicthat after his victory this Tuesday against Gael Monfils gave his opinion on that possible confrontation.

“Of course it affects that Rafa Nadal is on the same path in the draw because he is my biggest rival ever. I never thought of it but we haven’t met in painting lately. Things are changing, there are young players now and we are trying to compete to be the top of the world. I think we are still strong and it’s good to see that “said world number 1 clarified that Federer is a step below the Balearic in terms of rivalry.

There is no doubt The Swiss are holding back his long absence due to an injury that has kept him off track for nearly a yearthat is why many are starting to talk about him in the past tense.

So far, all we know is he continues to work hard to get back on the circuit in the medium term, included the Laver Cup (September 23-25) and the Basel tournament (October 24-30) as dates marked in red on their calendars.