By Tennis Now
Srdjan Djokovic, the father of reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, has often made exaggerated claims against his son's rival Roger Federer throughout the years.
That trend continued during a recent interview the outspoken elder Djokovic gave to Serbian television.
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World No. 1 Djokovic and Federer have faced each other since 2006. Both men are still competing for the chance to hold the most ever major titles for a male player. Djokovic recently earned his 18th career major title at this year's Australian Open. He still trails Federer and Rafael Nadal, who each hold the record at 20 major titles each.
According to the UK Sun, Srdjan Djokovic once again aimed his verbal barbs at Federer in an interview with Serbian TV channel K1. The elder Djokovic made the extraordinary claim that Federer attacked his son when Djokovic was a rising teenage player.
"About 15 years ago, Federer attacked my son when he was still young, he was 18 or 19 years old," the elder Djokovic said in the unsubstantiated claim.
"I knew someone would be there who would be better than him. So I said that (Federer) was a great champion, the best at the time. But as much as he is a great champion, Federer is not such a good man," he added.
The elder Djokovic, who has frequently complained publicly about the lack of respect he feels his son receives compared to Federer, continued those opinions in the interview. He blames most of it on the media.
"It is obvious that foreign media outlets do not have the best opinion of us and think that we are constantly bothering them. To tell you the truth, I do not want to be part of your twisted world. I'm sorry you don't like Novak. I just tell you the truth. What should I do? They defame him so much and say so many disgusting things about him that it is unbelievable. My answers are much clearer compared to how they treat this great champion, that they won't have again in this world."
Djokovic and Federer last played against each other in the 2020 Australian Open semifinal that Djokovic won in straight sets. Djokovic also leads the overall head to 27 to 23 in total victories.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy