Novak Djokovic ‘acted and felt like an unwanted child’

Novak Djokovic has opened up about never being “as loved as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal” as he was seen as “the third guy” who broke the pair’s dominance in men’s tennis.

Federer and Nadal initially formed the Big Two as they swept all before them and when Djokovic emerged as a challenger, Fedal fans did not take too kindly to him.

But even the Serbian’s harshest critics were forced to accept that the Big Two have turned into the Big Three as the trio ruled the ATP Tour for more than two decades.

Djokovic, though, has won the race to be the greatest tennis player of all time as he holds most of the major records in tennis, including most Grand Slams won by a man (24), most ATP 1000 titles won (40) and and most weeks spent at No 1 in the ATP Rankings (428).

Despite his fierce battles with Federer and Nadal – who have retired – there has always been a mutual respect as he told former Croatian footballer and coach Slaven Bilic on Failure of Champions: “Just because someone is my biggest rival doesn’t mean I wish them harm, hate them, or want to do anything else on the court to defeat them. We fought for the win, and the better player won.”

He added: “I’ve never said a single bad word about them and never will. I looked up to them and still do, but I’ve always gotten along better with Nadal.”

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But the “hurt” of not being accepted early on in his career is something that he didn’t shake off easily, as he revealed that “people didn’t like” the way he acted and the fact that he ended the Federer and Nadal era.

“I acted and still felt like an unwanted child,” the former world No 1 said. “I asked myself why that was. It hurt me. Then I thought the fans would accept me if I acted differently, but that wasn’t the case either.

“I was never as loved as Federer and Nadal because I wasn’t supposed to be there. I was the little guy, the third guy who came along and said: ‘I’m going to be No 1’. Many people didn’t like that.”

But staying true to his values paid off in the end as he added: “I am a man with many flaws, of course. Nevertheless, I have always tried to live with heart and good intentions and, ultimately, to be myself.”

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