Novak Djokovic says Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s absence has ‘zero’ impact on him at the US Open, as he looks to close the gap in the all-time Grand Slam charts on his great rivals.
Djokovic, the world No. 1 from Serbia, is the heavy favourite to win the tournament – a position only strengthened by the withdrawals of defending champion Nadal and five-time winner Federer, who is recovering from knee surgery.
Even if both were in attendance, Djokovic would be most people’s pick for the title.
Unbeaten in 25 matches this year, Djokovic has not lost to Federer at a Grand Slam since 2012 and hasn’t dropped a single set to Nadal on a hard court since 2013.
And while he thinks both are ‘greatly missed’ by spectators, it makes little difference to him.
‘On me, zero,’ said Djokovic after his four sets win over British No. 2 Kyle Edmund.
‘On the tournament, definitely big, big effect because they’re obviously legends of the sport.
‘They are greatly missed. Other than them and maybe Stan [Wawrinka, the 2016 champion], everyone is here. It’s still a very strong field.’
It’s been a busy time for Djokovic away from the court – forming the Professional Tennis Players’ Association. But he was unable to get Federer and Nadal on board to join his breakaway body.
‘I have reached out to them,’ added Djokovic, who resigned from the player council in order to form the new group outside the ATP structure.
‘We have spoken about this project several times in the past actually. I have reached out to them before we made it official, before we gathered with all the players on the Grandstand, I think it was last Saturday. They were very much aware of what is going to happen.
‘I respect, of course, completely their choice that they don’t want to be involved in it at the moment. They don’t think it’s the right time. That’s fine. That’s their opinion. I disagree with that. I think it’s kind of never a right time and it’s always a right time, right?
‘For a players association, it’s always the right time, and it has been the right time for the last 20 years. Somehow it was never really accomplished, never really realised. Right now it is. We are moving forward.’
Kevin Anderson has stepped into the role of ATP player council president after previous incumbant Djokovic moved on, and he insists that Andrea Gaudenzi and the new leadership team deserve more time to implement their plans.
‘I chatted a lot with the remaining council members, we don’t feel that’s the best path to go down,’ Anderson told SI. ‘And there’s a few reasons why.
‘One of the big reasons is starting this year, we have had new management come in and we’ve got a new chairman and CEO. The role has been broken up—before we had one person serving both those positions.
‘And in Australia this year, they put forth a very bold and exciting plan that the council was definitely on board on. And obviously, there’s a difference between presenting a plan and being able to execute and actually make it happen. But people need time, and that’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.
‘So that’s where it’s been a little bit tough from our side when we did see this formation of the new players’ association. Where I feel like it’s potentially splitting the players, and I think in a time like this, especially with the COVID crisis, having unity and players working together is of utmost importance.
‘And just having this association that sort of doesn’t necessarily have defined roles of how can fit into the ATP structure makes me a little bit concerned. And that’s one of the reasons I was not for it right now.’
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