Boris Becker reveals why Roger Federer was Novak Djokovic’s ‘enemy’ at Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer’s rivalry is among the greatest in tennis history, with the 50 meetings between the two only bettered by Djokovic’s rivalry with Rafael Nadal in the men’s game.
Tennis greats Djokovic and Federer combine for a staggering 44 Grand Slam singles titles and 109 titles overall, with almost 14 years separating the first and last official meetings between the two tennis icons.
It is Djokovic that narrowly leads the overall head-to-head 27-23, and the Serbian picked up significant victories over Federer at a tournament that lies close to both men’s hearts: Wimbledon.
The Swiss beat the Serbian in the semi-finals of the tournament in 2012, on the way to the seventh of his eight titles at the All England Club, though it was Djokovic who had the better of his rival after that.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion beat Federer in back-to-back SW19 finals in 2014 and 2015, before memorably saving championship points to beat the Swiss once again in the 2019 final.
Djokovic’s coach for his 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon titles was Boris Becker, himself a tennis great — with three SW19 titles and six Grand Slam titles overall to his name.
Becker coached Djokovic during one of the most dominant spells of the Serbian’s career, and how now offered insight into how he helped his former charge combat one key element in his rivalry with Federer: the Swiss’ popularity.
Federer was arguably the most popular male player of his generation, and that was particularly the case at Wimbledon, with the crowd largely behind him across all three of his finals versus Djokovic.
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However, it was Djokovic who prevailed in all three of the championship matches the two contested inside Centre Court.
And, speaking on the High Performance Podcast this week, Becker revealed how he instructed Djokovic not to take a lack of crowd support “personally” during the 2014 and 2015 finals.
“Federer was always Djokovic’s enemy, especially at Wimbledon, for two reasons: because he was very good on grass and because he was the most loved,” said Becker.
“So I explained to Djokovic that the people in the stands weren’t against him, but they were there to cheer for Federer, so he shouldn’t take it personally and should fight to find a way to make these people like him.”
Becker and Djokovic’s partnership proved to be a huge success, with the Serbian winning six Grand Slam titles during their time together.
Outside of Wimbledon triumphs in 2014 and 2015, Djokovic also won the 2015 and 2016 Australian Open and 2015 US Open titles under the German’s guidance — before ultimately completing the Career Grand Slam with victory at the 2016 French Open.
The Serbian also won 14 Masters 1000 titles under Becker’s coaching and sealed back-to-back year-end No 1 finishes in 2014 and 2015, a spell which is widely recognised as the greatest of Djokovic’s career.
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