Roger Federer on Djokovic disqualification: "Can happen to anyone"
Roger Federer is dutifully answering questions from journalists in the run-up to the ATP 250 event. And also commented on the disqualification of Novak Djokovic at the US Open 2020.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Mar 07, 2021, 05:52 pm
The US Open 2020 will probably go down in history for many reasons. On the one hand there are the completely new circumstances under which the Grand Slam tournament took place - with empty stands, the bubble for players and entourage and the meticulous safety precautions to prevent COVID infections.
Or the winner, who hasn't been named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic for so long. No, at the US Open 2020 it was Dominic Thiem who broke through the long dominance of the "Big Three" - apart from a few "outliers" from Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka & Co - at the major tournaments and got his first grand Slam title snapped.
And of course there would also be the story of the elimination of the world number one, the big favorite, the elimination of Novak Djokovic. The Serb, who had been successful in the Western & Southern Open the week before despite poor performance, had to give up in the round of 16. And in a memorable way. A ball, shot backwards in affect, should hit a line judge in the neck - and seal Djokovic's elimination with a disqualification.
Federer "impressed by the high level"
An enormously unfortunate situation from the Serbian point of view, that is also the opinion of Roger Federer, who only watched the tournament from a distance: "Djokovic had unbelievable bad luck at the US Open. Everyone knows that. You have to have self-control, but everyone can do it happen, "said the Swiss on the sidelines of the ATP 250 event in Doha. The fact that Dominic Thiem was supposed to celebrate his first major title in front of empty ranks a few days later was "heartbreaking" for Federer.
Basically, it was still "great" to see that the ATP tour resumes operations, as a member of the Players Council, Federer knows how hard it was to get this off the ground. That is one of the reasons why it was surprising for the 39-year-old how strong the players were despite the long break, as Federer explained: "Nadal impressed me in Paris, Djokovic in Melbourne. I was impressed by such a high level."