‘Elegance, tenacity, charisma, skiing’ – Novak Djokovic’s unique words to describe his big rivals

Roger Federer had a “huge aura” in the locker room, but Rafael Nadal was “the most intimidating” opponent that Novak Djokovic has faced.

In a candid interview in GQ Magazine, tennis great Djokovic opened up on various topics including his deportation from Australia at the start of the 2022 season, his future, and the big rivalries with Big Three members Federer and Nadal as well as future stars Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner enjoyed a legendary rivalry with Federer and Nadal that transcended tennis as they dominated the sport for nearly two decades, but Djokovic is the last man standing as Federer hung up his racket in 2022 while Nadal called it a day after the 2024 season.

When asked about his intimidating opponent, the Serbian revealed how Nadal’s notorious warm-up routine in the locker room would send shivers down the spine, telling GQ.co.uk: “The most intimidating? That’s him. It was him, for sure. Roger also had this huge aura, of course.

“And before you were playing him, you felt it. But he did it more gracefully, I guess, you know? But, I mean Nadal, because we all share locker rooms, so you see the players warming up and so forth.”

There were times when Djokovic could hear Nadal’s music from his headphones and he was asked to go into detail.

“Oh yeah. But actually, I’ve seen somewhere that when he was asked about that, he said, No, I was never doing that to intimidate. I was like, uhh… I’m not so sure,” he added. “But he was famous for that, still sprinting in the little corridors of the locker room where he’s literally taking people down.

“They walk out of the toilet and, yeah, he wants to make his presence felt. You know? Physical. I’m here. I’m jumping around. I’m ready for a battle. I’m going to get physical with you from the very beginning. From the first moment, you’re going to hear my grunts.

“So that’s very intimidating for a lot of players. And if you are not confident in yourself, you don’t have the self-belief, if you don’t have a clear game plan on what you want to do from the beginning, he’s going to eat you alive.”

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With Nadal and Federer no longer around, Djokovic has formed a new rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner.

Djokovic was also asked to say the first word that comes to mind when the following names are mentioned.

Roger Federer: “Elegance.”

Rafael Nadal: “Tenacity.”

Carlos Alcaraz: “Charisma.”

Jannik Sinner: “Skiing.”

He is happy to share some secrets with the rising stars of the game, but not too many.

“We talk, we joke around, we smile and I think that’s nice because it’s hard to maybe go deeper than that when you’re at the top level,” he explained before adding “you don’t maybe want to share too much because you’re still at the top”.