The players first met on the 17th of April 2006 in Monte Carlo. Back then first-seeded Federer defeated Djokovic in the first round. After more than 13 years both players meet in their 50th appearance together at the 2020 Australian Open.
Djokovic leads the H2H statistic 26-23 and he was also better at Grand Slams. However, Federer managed to perform two great comebacks in Melbourne against Millman and Sandgren. The world no. 2 is a favorite of the match but in their last meeting, it was the older of the two who was victorious when Roger defeated Novak at the 2019 ATP Finals.
When Roger and Novak meet it is always something special. 36 Grand Slam titles in one match and one of them is close to adding another in Melbourne. The winner of the match will meet Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem and ahead of the match, Djokovic had a lot to say about Roger.
“I know that whenever we get a chance to play each other, we understand it takes a big effort and it's required from us to come up with the best game in order to win against each other,” said Djokovic.
“At Wimbledon last year, he had two match points, he was one shot away from winning that match. It's not like I've been dominating the matchups. I've had success against him, in Grand Slams in particular.
“But Roger is Roger. You know that he's always going to play on such a high level, regardless of the surface. He loves to play these kind of matches, big rivalries, semi-finals, finals of the Grand Slams.”
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