By Chris Oddo | Tuesday February 28, 2017
Speaking to reporters ahead of this week’s Abierto Mexican Telcel in Acapulco, Novak Djokovic praised Roger Federer's for his 18th Grand Slam title and told the world that the Big 4 is not done yet.
Djokovic was asked by a reporter (click embedded video above) if he thought that the Big 4 was back, and after a long pause to consider, he said that he never thought the Big 4 had left (with a smile). Then the 12-time major champion went on to explain how good it is for the sport to have new faces, before he reflected on the Australian Open final and praised Federer for winning the title at 35.
Federer became the oldest Grand Slam champion since 1972 when he took the title over Rafael Nadal in Melbourne. Djokovic clearly came away impressed by the feat, and the performance of both Federer and Nadal.
“It was amazing to see Roger win the Australian Open at his age, after injury and after being absent for so long,” he said. “It’s quite impressive, I congratulate him for that—he never ceases to impress everybody.”
“That proves that you can still play on a very high level, the highest level in sport at that age. It was great to see a Federer and Nadal final, we haven’t seen that in a Grand Slam for some time, and I think it’s important for the sport of tennis that these two guys are back in Grand Slam finals, winning trophies, because they are the icons of tennis. They have contributed so much to the popularity of sport worldwide. I think with them being back on such a high level it can only bring positive to our sport.”
Djokovic will open his first appearance at Acapulco tonight when he meets Slovakia’s Martin Klizan in first-round action. Rafael Nadal, who meets Mischa Zverev, and Juan Martin del Potro, who faces Frances Tiafoe, will also be in action.