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"Let's give a big round of applause to Roger Federer, he deserves it. I've had some great battles with Roger over the years. Tennis clearly misses Federer. I saw him dressed very smartly at Fashion Week. I want to challenge him on the ski slope.
He is enjoying life, I am glad to see him again considering that he was one of my biggest rivals on the tennis court. So I send my best regards to him and his family." At the end of his match against Andrey Rublev -which he won conclusively in three sets-, Novak Djokovic paid tribute to Roger Federer and invited the audience present at the Rod Laver Arena to applaud him.
Both gave rise to one of the most exciting rivalries in the history of the sport and allowed tennis to grow in all aspects. Barbara Schett, at the Eurosport microphones, stopped precisely at Djokovic's words. "Novak has said that he misses Roger on the Tour, but those rivalries have gotten all four of them to where they are today, to the role they have now on the Tour.
I don't think he misses Roger. Probably because he has such a good chance to go down in the history books by winning the most Grand Slam titles," explained the former Austrian player and current Eurosport TV presenter. "Of course, there is Rafael Nadal, but he is in very good shape.
He has problems, but he has no serious injuries and his body seems to be in great shape. And he is also still very motivated. 21 Grand Slam titles are not enough for Novak Djokovic and it's good to see it. On the one hand, he probably misses Roger Federer, but on the other I think he's probably glad he's gone."
Boris Becker on Roger Federer's legacy
Six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker recently said that Roger Federer's legacy in tennis will always have a place of its own.
"Maybe the sports ambassador, not just tennis ambassador. The world hasn't seen anything like that yet. You can take footballers and basketball players and track and field athletes. This total package Roger Federer - and then he also grew up in neutral Switzerland," Becker said.
"With Roger, everything is so perfect, almost too good to be true. That will never happen again in tennis and that is also why tennis has become such a global sport. Good luck to the guys who want to take over," Becker said.