Djokovic wishes he was part of Agassi, Sampras and Ivanisevic era: "I would love to have experienced playing Jimmy Connors"

Novak Djokovic expressed that he would have liked to play alongside Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and Goran Ivanisevic.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has been part of what many consider the greatest rivalry in tennis history alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, collectively known as the Big Three. They are the three players with the most Grand Slam titles in men's tennis history: Djokovic with 23, Nadal with 22, and Federer with 20.

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'Nole' spoke to the Serbian press at Wimbledon after advancing to the semifinals and jokingly mentioned how it would have been if he had played tennis during the era of other great legends, including John McEnroe, Boris Becker, and Ivan Lendl.

“I would probably get into an argument with (John) McEnroe. Yes, we’ve all thought about it. We all compare ourselves to the champions of the past. Many of these champions are still very active in our sport – McEnroe, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl et cetera. I know Boris really well, and we often spoke about these topics and how he sees today’s tennis compared to his era,” Djokovic said.

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"I would love to have experienced playing Connors at night session in New York"

The Serbian player expressed regret for never having played against Pete Sampras, his childhood idol, or against his current coach Goran Ivanisevic, a former world No. 2.

“I am very sorry I didn’t have a chance to play Pete, since he inspired me to pick up a racquet. With (Andre) Agassi, I did play one exhibition match here before Wimbledon. I would have loved to be part of that era, together with crazy Goran,” Djokovic said.

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“The Borg-McEnroe rivalry. … Then, I would love to have experienced playing Jimmy Connors at a night session in New York – the way he played and the buzz around the stadium, it was awesome. Still, I am grateful to be part of this era with three of my biggest rivals, who pushed me towards all the success I managed to achieve,” world No. 2 added.

Djokovic will be playing his 11th semifinal at the All England Club, boasting a record of 8-3 since his first semifinal appearance in 2007. His opponent on this occasion will be the young Italian Jannik Sinner, who comes off a victory against Roman Safiulin and is reaching this stage of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Saša Ozmo

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