Djokovic inaming may naramdamang tensyon para kay Roger Federer
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (right) have won 46 Grand Slam titles between them / Daniel LEAL / AFP/File
Aminado si Novak Djokovic na may naramdaman siyang tensyon para kay Roger Federer sa unang bahagi ng kaniyang tennis career, ngunit sinabing lalo lamang iyong nagpasidhi sa hangarin niyang maging pinakamahusay na player sa buong mundo.
Target ng Serbian world number one ang makasaysayang 25th Grand Slam sa Melbourne, kung saan sampung ulit na siyang nanalo.
Sa ngayon ay si Djokovic na ang ‘most-decorated player’ sa men’s tennis, kung saan lamang siya ng dalawang major titles sa na-injured na si Rafael Nadal at apat naman sa nagretiro nang si Federer, na kaniyang kasama sa tinatawag na “Big Three.”
Na-enjoy ng 36-anyos ang tunggalian nila ng Swiss great na si Federer, kung saan naipanalo niya ang 27 sa 50 matches nila.
Target nya ngayon ang 11th Australian Open sa Melbourne upang malampasan si Margaret Court, na mayroon ding 24 Grand Slam singles crowns.
Noong Biyernes, tinalo ni Djokovic ang 30th-seed na si Tomas Martin Etcheverry sa kaniyang 100th match sa torneo.
Sinabi ni Djokovic, “I know certainly Federer didn’t like the way I was behaving at the beginning. I think it didn’t sit with him well. I don’t know about the others.”
Aniya, “I guess I wasn’t the favourite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world. I was confident, and I felt like I have the game to back it up.”
Subalit binigyang diin ni Djokovic, na hindi siya nawawalan ng respeto.
Ayon kay Djokovic, “Respect is something that I was taught that needs to be present regardless of what is happening. Obviously on the court a lot of things can happen in a kind of heat of a battle. It was a very long time ago now, 20 years since I made my first debut I think on the professional tour. It’s really hard to say who liked me more or less.”
Sinabi ng Serbian kung ano ang nagtutulak sa kaniya, at ito yaong para sa kaniya ay “unfair criticism.”
Paliwanag niya, “If I made a mistake, I would admit it and, of course, say I make a mistake, I raise my hand, I apologise or whatever. But if the criticism came with no particular reason I think, then I would just keep going in the kind of direction that I chose, and that’s it.”
Dagdag pa niya, “I knew and I know today that you can’t have everyone liking you, who you are, how you play, how you behave, what you talk about. It’s normal. We’re all different. We are all different preferences.”
