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Krajicek Implies Djokovic Superiority Over Federer
5 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek may have committed tennis blasphemy by asserting that Novak Djokovic is the superior player overall than Roger.
Krajicek believes Federer’s greatest achievement was becoming no. 1 again in 2012: his ‘biggest result, because Federer managed to overcome (Novak) Djokovic and (Andy) Murray who were in good form that year.’ Krajicek added, ‘What makes Federer special is that he played at the highest level for sixteen years and achieved the record Grand Slam titles.”
“He is also the most beautiful player to watch. But Djokovic won most of the matches against him. I think that he is even more complete (than Federer). Djokovic was holding all the Grand Slam titles in 2016, Federer never managed to do it.”
Ouch. It’s not often you hear a respected tennis insider like a Wimbledon champion like Krajicek scrutinize the Federer career and bring to light the areas that indicate flaws of the master. Krajicek makes some solid points and opens the gateway for fair discussion and debate.
A fine player in his own era, Krajicek scored multiple wins over Pete Sampras and his credible viewpoints have to be respected.
Krajicek also noted some observations about Federer’s tactical approach, praising Stefan Edberg’s work with Federer in 2014 and 2015: “Edberg taught him to finish the rallies, now Roger knows how to come to the net and cover the court. Roger never tries to win the point with the first volley. He puts the opponent off balance and chooses the open angle, just like Edberg was doing.”
Perhaps most interestingly, Krajicek implied that Federer’s best years came at the expense of a supposedly weaker era.
“It was a transition period. Roger also played with the stars of the previous generation like (Andre) Agassi and (Marat) Safin for two years. Players of his same age like (Andy) Roddick, (Lleyton) Hewitt, (Juan Carlos) Ferrero, (Nikolay) Davidenko and his current coach Ivan Ljubicic did not have weapons to hurt him in the Grand Slams.”
Regarding Federer being the ATP world no. 1 right now on the verge of age 37, Krajicek reminded of a pertinent fact, “Roger is (no.1) because his major rivals are injured.”
Krajicek’s quotes are attributed to the interview he recently gave to Volkskrant web site.
(Artwork by Andres Bella.)
Djokovic · Federer · Krajicek · Wimbledon
Scoop Malinowski · June 21, 2018 at 9:44 am
My take on this is still the same: Djokovic played better tennis than Fed and Rafa. Fed and Rafa took tennis to a new height but then Djokovic overcame prime Fed and Rafa and took the level up to a new height. Djokovic could not sustain that level in 2016 and faltered for a host of reasons but it’s still realistic to say that Djokovic gave us the greatest tennis we ever saw and the holding of all four majors at the same time is the ultimate achievement. Fed and Nadal have had more decorated careers but Djokovic gave us the ultimate highest level of tennis.
Chazz · June 21, 2018 at 11:33 am
You can see this type of debate in other sports. Does sustained excellence mean you are the greatest or if you are arguably the best over 1-2 years and maybe better head-to-head, are you the greatest? A possible comparison would be UCLA basketball, who is widely considered the greatest program in history with 10 titles in a 12 years span vs. a great program (take your pick among Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke) that hasn’t won as many titles but maybe had some teams that had a higher level of excellence.
Scoop Malinowski · June 21, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Chazz, individual sports are easier than rating teams but tennis and boxing are complicated too. Everybody values their own personal criteria. Longevity is important but Djokovic’s excellence outshined longevity of Fed and Rafa. No one will forget how he was manhandling those two juggernauts – on their best surfaces.
Joe Blow · June 21, 2018 at 12:29 pm
Better teams than UCLA???
3 different streaks of over 45 games. One to 88 games..
Alcindor(Kareem) teams were unstoppable, a HOF Elvin Hayes had to play the game of his life to beat him, while he had a scratched Retina. They blew Houston out the next time they played by 30 in the Final Four..
Wicks and Rowe teams that followed were great, then you get Walton and Wilkes, with Dave Meyers, and Marques Johnson added along the way..Lost to a great team led by David Thompson in OT..
Greatest college dynasty..Probably should have been ineligible, they were most definitely getting money from legendary booster Sam Gilbert
Wooden is the GOAT of coaches…
Scoop Malinowski · June 21, 2018 at 3:32 pm
That Duke juggernaut with Christian Laettner and Coach K was also a very successful team for many years though not quite like Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.