Djokovic owes his US Open title to Federer and Nadal

Novak Djokovic on Sunday said that he is the player he is today because of modern-day greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The 31-year old Serb equalled the legendary Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles after his win over Juan Martin Del Potro in the US Open final.

“Pete Sampras is one of the biggest legends ever to play the game,” he said after his third US Open victory.

He added, “He was my childhood idol. He was someone I was looking up to. The first actual thing I saw related to tennis on the TV was his first or second Wimbledon championship. That inspired me to start playing tennis.

“There is a lot of significance of me being now shoulder to shoulder in terms of grand slam wins with him.”

The Serbian now stands just three short of matching Nadal who has 17 Grand Slam titles. Federer leads the chart with 20 titles.

The win also puts him behind Nadal and Federer in the world rankings.

An elbow injury last year saw Djokovic fall in the rankings and also not win anything for almost 54-weeks.

But a Wimbledon title win, victory at the Cincinnati Masters and now the US Open has put him back on track once again, although he didn’t face Nadal or Federer en route to the win.

Australian John Millman earlier shocked the world when he defeated the Swiss maestro in the quarter-finals and Nadal had to retire hurt owing to a knee injury that also puts him out of Spain’s Davis Cup team.

The Serbian said that he would want to face any of them, admitting that such wasn’t the case when he was relatively new to the sport.

“Maybe 10 years ago I would say I’m not so happy to be part of this era with Nadal and Federer,” said Djokovic.

“Today I really am. I feel like these guys, rivalries with these guys, matches with Federer and Nadal, have made me the player I am, have shaped me into the player I am today.

“I owe it to them,” he added.