World No.1, Novak Djokovic achieved all the success of his career in one of the most difficult eras in the history of tennis.
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The Serbian played in an era when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were at the peak of their career. There were also other players like Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marin Cilic, and Stan Wawrinka, who inconsistently won the many titles in the past decade.
However, Novak Djokovic made a huge impact on the ATP tour and is now considered to be one of the greatest players of all time.
Novak Djokovic surpassed the former World No.1, Pete Sampras after clinching the 15th Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open 2019. With this victory, Djokovic broke the tie with Pete Sampras, who has conquered 14 major titles in his career which ended at the 2002 US Open.
Pete Sampras commended the world No.1 in an I interview and suggested that Djokovic is similar to him. He said, “When I look at the current generation – Rafa, Andy, Roger, Novak – I should say that Novak is very similar to me. Because he is just like me, a happy person.”
Sampras further explained why he and Novak Djokovic are alike. The American continued, “We enjoy ourselves a lot on the court. Probably because we come from countries where before there weren’t tennis idols.”
The 48-year-old further added, “Both of us had to work hard, maybe tougher than others to get to the top. He has a good character, he is so tough mentally.”
Pete Sampras was also present to witness Novak’s game at this year’s Indian Wells Masters. However, his presence made the world No.1 nervous as Djokovic revealed in an interview that he tried to impress his idol but felt his nerves kicking in.
He said, “I learned that I have to be ready to see Pete Sampras coming to watch my match. I was surprised, very pleasantly. But I felt my nerves kick in. I don’t get to see him very often and I wanted to impress him. I started losing my focus a little bit.”
