Serbian star says Swiss legend would leave lasting legacy for world of tennis
\nLONDON
\nNovak hailed the retiring Roger Federer as one of the greatest athletes of all time and said he would leave a lasting legacy for the world of tennis.
\nThe 41-year-old Swiss great will play competitively for the last time at this week\u2019s Laver Cup, turning out for Team Europe alongside Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Djokovic – the three biggest rivals of his glittering 24-year career.
\nFederer, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles, has struggled with injuries in recent years and said last week that he would end his career after the Laver Cup in London.
\n\u201cHis impact on the game has been tremendous, the way he was playing, his style, effortless, just perfect for an eye of a tennis coach, player or just a tennis fan,\u201d Serbian Djokovic told reporters on Wednesday at London\u2019s Tower Bridge.
\n\u201cHe has left a huge legacy that will live for a very long time.\u201d Djokovic beat Federer in four major finals including at Wimbledon in 2019, the Swiss\u2019s last Grand Slam final.
\n\u201cBoth Andy and I didn\u2019t know that this is going to be his last match, his farewell this weekend, so that makes this occasion even greater because he\u2019s one of the greatest athletes ever to play sport, any sport,\u201d said Djokovic, who is one major title behind Nadal\u2019s men\u2019s record of 22.
\n\u201cHis popularity on and off the court speaks for itself. So I\u2019m sure we\u2019re going to have a blast this weekend.\u201d
\nThis week\u2019s Laver Cup will be the first time that Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic are playing together in an event since the 2019 Australian Open.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s great we will have a chance to spend some quality time off the court together,\u201d Djokovic told Eurosport.
\n\u201cWe have team dinners and will chat about tennis, sports, life. We don\u2019t normally do that on tour, we have our own teams and families, so this is quite unique.
\n\u201cWe all want to win and perform well but at the same time because of Roger\u2019s farewell and the opportunity to be alongside some of my greatest rivals in my career you also want to share some good times off the court too.
\n\u201cThe WhatsApp group is what keeps us together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Serbian star says Swiss legend would leave lasting legacy for world of tennis LONDON Novak hailed the retiring Roger Federer as one of the greatest athletes of all time and said he would leave a lasting legacy for the world of tennis. The 41-year-old Swiss great will play competitively for the last time at this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n