Following Novak Djokovic‘s record-setting season in 2023, the debate on whether he is better now than his great rival Roger Federer six years ago.
Federer, who turned 36 in 2017, put together one of the greatest comeback seasons in tennis history. With endless doubts about his long-term playing career following a five-month injury hiatus, he stormed to win the 2017 Australian Open.
The throwback year saw Federer return to his glory heydays, adding a second Grand Slam title of the season at Wimbledon and recovering his spot in the Top 2. Thanks to his coach, Ivan Ljubicic, the most conspicuous improvement was his renewed confidence and ability to tweak his backhand.
While the magnitude of Federer’s accomplishments in 2017 and to a lesser extent in the early part of 2018 almost mirrors what Djokovic has done this year (even though the Serbian star statically has better numbers), there is a huge difference in that comparison according to Patrick Mouratoglou.
Mouratoglou lavished praise on Federer for instilling changes to his game “systematically” and opined that the Swiss great was better in 2018 than a decade earlier because of his improvised backhand. It was a calculated risk so late in his career, but it paid off handsomely.
“I often hear that what Roger did between 2017 and 2019 is as good as what Novak is doing now, and that Roger was a better player in 2017, 2018, than before. But I think there is a major difference. I think that Roger was a better in a way in 2018 than he was 10 years before.”
“Actually, for one main reason. His backhand. He took a major decision and started to take the ball much earlier on the backhand side and to return flat rather than return slice systematically.”
The French coach took a different approach in comparing Djokovic’s and Federer’s seasons while at 36. In a video on his Instagram account, he explained that Djokovic is physically better now than Federer was at 36.
Because of this attribute, he was consistent all year, winning three of the four Grand Slams in a season for the fourth time in his career, something Federer couldn’t pull off six years ago.
“But Roger was not able to win three out of four Grand Slams and be consistent all year long and be really one step above all the other players. This didn’t happen. Novak, I feel the difference is Novak he’s physically as good today as he was when he was 26. And that’s a huge difference.”
“Because when you are that level physically, you can be consistent all year long and beat all the best players in the world on a consistent basis. That’s a big difference.”
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