Rafael Nadal’s response when asked if Novak Djokovic was good enough to challenge him and Roger Federer back in 2011

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Novak Djokovic was once the new kid on the block when it came to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s famous rivalry.

For a while in the 2000s it felt as if no one would be able to challenge Nadal and Federer’s dominance, a rivalry that was headlining tennis.

However, when Djokovic beat Federer en route to winning the Miami Open in 2007, it became clear that he had the potential to disrupt the rankings. 

The Serbian then won his first Grand Slam in 2008 at the Australian Open, another clear indicator of his talent.

Rafael Nadal’s verdict on Novak Djokovic’s potential in 2021

That being said, Nadal was actually quizzed about Djokovic’s potential to challenge him and Federer when participating at a Q&A session at the Laureus World Sport Awards in Abu Dhabi back in 2011.

Djokovic had just won the Australian Open, the first of three Grand Slams he would go on to win that year.

And having been eliminated by David Ferrer in the quarter-finals himself, Nadal was asked whether Djokovic could go on to challenge him and Federer in future slams.

Nadal replied: “I’m sure he is a fantastic player. I congratulated Novak because what he did in Australia was unbelievable.

“He played fantastic tennis. It’s fantastic the level he showed everyone in Australia. It’s nothing new, Novak was there from 2007 at the top level. Andy Murray too.

“Pushing hard is nothing new, we will see what is going to happen. For sure Novak and Murray have a little more advantage, because they played the first final of the Grand Slam of the season, so that’s a lot of points and advantage but we will see what’s going on in the season.

“I felt I am ready to play my best tennis in Melbourne when I started the season, but for different reasons I wasn’t able to do it there, but I will be working hard to be competitive in every tournament.

“To reach number one is not a real goal, a real goal is to be competitive in every tournament I play. That is my goal.

“Now I started with semi-finals and quarter-finals in Australia. It’s not the perfect start, but it’s not a terrible start.”

READ MORE: Roger Federer once named his four favourite tennis players while growing up and included one ATP player who never won a Grand Slam

Nadal, Federer and Djokovic’s Grand Slam records compared after those comments

Of course it is therefore interesting to compare the trio’s individual records at Grand Slams after Nadal was asked that question.

It should be noted that Federer started winning titles back in 2003 – he wasn’t necessarily in the prime of his career during this comparison.

But either way, it’s clear to see that Djokovic was more than capable of being able to challenge Nadal and Federer from that point.

Djokovic excelled across all surfaces, whereas Federer had his complaints about playing on clay in the past.

Three brilliant champions, and Nadal was right to recognise Djokovic’s rich potential even before he became world number one.