Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently compared Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to soccer legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, conspicuously leaving out Rafael Nadal. Boris Becker has raised a question over the Spaniard’s exclusion from the narrative.
Much like how the ‘Big 3’ dominated tennis for two decades with their impressive achievements and fierce competition, Messi and Ronaldo had a similar impact on soccer through their unmatched success and captivating rivalry.
In a recent Instagram post, Mouratoglou compared Federer to Lionel Messi for his “crazy” innate talent, while likening Djokovic to Cristiano Ronaldo for his meticulous attention to detail and exceptional work ethic.
“I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, and we were saying that Federer is Messi, and Djokovic is Ronaldo,” Mouratoglou said.
“Why? Because Federer is pure crazy talent and he just needs to feel what he’s doing. While Djokovic is the super hard worker that pays attention to every single detail,” he added.
However, Boris Becker was taken aback by Rafael Nadal’s omission, questioning where the 22-time Grand Slam champion fit in the equation.
“What about Nadal?” Becker questioned.
Interestingly, Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni made a earlier this year, comparing his nephew and Roger Federer’s rivalry to that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while leaving out Novak Djokovic.
“Novak Djokovic has a blend of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s auras, he has a bit more of an arrogance to him” – Trio’s former hitting partner Mike Digby
In a recent exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Mike Digby, who has served as the hitting partner for each of the ‘Big 3,’ opened up about how Roger Federer’s “calm and classy” aura sharply contrasted with Rafael Nadal’s powerful strikes and fierce energy.
“If I was blindfolded, they’re very different auras. Federer, you can feel his presence just through pure quality of ball striking. So just the sound of the ball off the strings, the elegance that he brings when he does it, just the calm and class that he brings, you can just feel it,” Digby said.
“But on the flip side, Nadal would be someone that you can hear, right? His aura comes through what you hear through the heaviness of the strike, through the grunt, obviously, through the feet that you can kind of just hear him scurrying his feet,” he added.
On the other hand, Digby asserted that Novak Djokovic possessed a blend of his arch-rivals’ auras, suggesting that while the Serb was more “arrogant” than Federer or Nadal, it was an integral aspect of his personality.
“Novak has a blend of those two. He has a bit more of an arrogance to him. And I love that about him. That’s genuinely not a negative comment at all. I think that if he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be the Novak Djokovic that we all know. It makes him who he is,” the Brit said.
Digby, who is currently coaching Tamara Zidansek, also shed light on how “chasing records” served as motivation for Djokovic.
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Edited by Urvi Mehra
