World No 1 Novak Djokovic wants to be known as the greatest player of all time. But he does not want his stature compared to his biggest rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, report agencies.
Instead, the Serbian hopes he will be judged only on what he has achieved throughout his career.
“I understand why people want to talk about record-breaking, but I feel like we all have our own path, and we all have different careers and just different journeys through life and through tennis,” Djokovic said.
“I want to be able to build my own path and build my own legacy and focus on that rather than breaking someone else’s record.
“Of course, I care about history. Of course, I want to be the best I can possibly be in the history of this sport.
“But again, my main attention or focus goes to fuelling my own journey and creating my own legacy.”
Djokovic was speaking ahead of his opening match of the Japan Open against Alexei Popyrin. Where Novak Djokovic blasted past Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
Playing in his first singles match since retiring from his U.S. Open fourth-round match with Stan Wawrinka due to a left shoulder issue, the Serb showed he was fighting fit as he fired seven aces and won 84% of points on his
first serve.
Djokovic, now into his 271st week at number one having passed Ivan Lendl (270) for third place in the all-time list, takes on local favourite Go Soeda in the
next round.
