Novak Djokovic made angry statement about Rafael Nadal’s behaviour in dressing room
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal are close friends, but that hasn’t always been the case. The pair will undoubtedly go down as two of the greatest players to ever pick up a racket, and their on-court rivalry is the longest and arguably best in the Open Era.
It all began nearly two decades after the soon-to-be legendary duo burst onto the scene within a couple of years of each other during the mid-00s. Ahead of one of their earliest meetings, Djokovic says he got “p****d off” with Nadal after the Spaniard went through his pre-match ritual just a few feet away from him.
“I’m playing against Nadal at Roland Garros, and his dressing area is next to mine, right? So we are so close,” the Serbian told CBS last year. “We try to give each other space. But then the dressing room isn’t that big either.
“And the way you jump around, like Nadal before we go out on the court… In the dressing room, he’s doing sprints next to you. I can even hear the music he’s listening to, you know, in his headphones. You know, that annoys me,” he said.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted he let those sorts of things get to him when he was younger, but soon learned to block the mind games out, and sometimes even use them to his advantage.
“At the beginning of my career, I didn’t realise how it was all part of the script, right? So I was afraid of that,” he said. “But it also motivates me to do things myself and show that I’m ready, you know? I’m ready for battle, for war.”
