“If Roger Federer had slammed the ball towards the line judge at the US Open, they wouldn’t have banned him,” says Nikola Pilic
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Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer
World No.1 Novak Djokovic faltered at the final stage of the recently concluded 2021 US Open against World No.2 Daniil Medvedev in pursuit of his Calendar Slam. In the process, the Serbian star also missed a chance to become the all-time leader of Grand Slams won in history.
However, the loss in New York a month ago wasn’t the only setback in Djokovic’s career. Back in 2020 too, he missed a chance to win the US Open for the fourth time in his career, after he was disqualified from the event, for accidentally firing a ball at a lineswoman’s throat.
While many pundits and former players presented their opinions on the sensitive topic, former Croatian professional Nikola Pilic said that Djokovic received harsh treatment for his actions.
He even opined that the authorities wouldn’t have dished out a similar punishment to Roger Federer. “If Federer had done the same thing as Novak, they certainly would not have banned him,” Pelic told Vecernji List.
Novak Djokovic is the best ever
The 1973 Roland Garros runner-up further added that the 34-year-old Djokovic is miles ahead of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in terms of numbers and records. Therefore, Pilic is convinced that the Serb is the greatest ever to play the sport.
“I never said Djokovic is the GOAT until the 2019 Wimbledon final. After that win, I put numbers on the table: he leads H2H meetings vs Federer and Nadal, will win more Slams, holds the record for the most weeks at world No. 1.”
“He (Novak Djokovic) won the most Masters tournaments, he was the only one to win every Grand Slam at least twice, no one reached 17,000 ATP points. He is the best. Djokovic is phenomenal, great work, honest and hardworking,” the 82-year-old concluded.
A few days, the 20-time Grand Slam champion announced that he won’t be participating in the upcoming ATP Masters tournament in Indian Wells.
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)