Novak Djokovic, in a recent interview for ’60 Minutes’, talked about his early days playing against one of his biggest rivals, Rafael Nadal.
Novak admitted that watching Nadal’s warm-up session at the French Open intimidated him a bit.
Djokovic and Rafa are among the biggest names in tennis history and they played against each other 59 times. Djokovic celebrated 30 times while Nadal won 29 matches, which shows how strong the rivalry was.
Although neither of them showed any fear on the field, they were equally nervous before facing each other.
In the interview, the Serbian player recalls what the audience doesn’t see. Each player has his own routine before the match, and Novak reveals that Rafa’s warm-up session intimidates him because of its intensity.
He said: ” I’m playing Nadal in Roland Garros, and I have his locker next to my locker, right? So, we are so close. And we’re trying to give each other space. But then the locker room is also not that big. And the way you jump around like Nadal does before we go out on the court. In the locker room, he’s doing sprints next to you. I can even hear the music he’s listening to in his headphones [he mimics it]. So, you know, it’s pis*ing me off. ”
The Spaniard won Roland Garros 14 times and it is the biggest record of the tournament, which is why he earned the nickname ‘the king of clay‘.
