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"He's our James Bond" - Jensen on the 'sibling rivalry' of Federer & Djokovic

Former French Open winner Luke Jensen believes that Roger Federer remains the James Bond of tenni...



Other Sports

"He's our James Bond" - Jensen on the 'sibling rivalry' of Federer & Djokovic

Former French Open winner Luke Jensen believes that Roger Federer remains the James Bond of tennis, and that the rivalry between the two Wimbledon finalists is akin to sibling rivalry.

Speaking to Joe Molloy in the aftermath of Djokovic's victory in five sets over Federer yesterday - the longest Wimbledon final in history - Luke says that there is immense respect between the two, regardless of their perceived popularity at the All-England club.

"When you are going up against Roger Federer, you can't get into a popularity contest. He is the most beautiful tennis player that has ever lived," said Luke on the talk of popular opinion.

"He's a supermodel. The James Bond of our sport. He does everything extremely well, he is graceful and Novak has a different approach. He is a guy that is always irritable [...] a lot of people have a tough time watching him compete because he plays the same point the same way. He is not creative, it is just another style."

It was Djokovic that came through on the day and, while a notable element of the crowd not so much against the Serb, as in favour of 37 year-old Federer, this is not something that will bother Djokovic.

"He's the ultimate human backboard. You're talking about the guy that just gets one more racquet on the ball and makes you earn it one more time. His back was against the wall.

"You couldn't get any more behind it than what Djokovic was facing against Roger Federer with match point then double match point down. He just hits one more ball back.

"He is so bulletproof with his confidence when his back is against it!"

Luke believes that Djokovic can struggle when he tries to become too offensive and - perversely - almost comes alive in the toughest times, against the likes of Federer and Nadal.

"When he gets in trouble is when he tries to be too offensive. When he settles down and thinks 'This is who I am. I am not trying to win a beauty contest. I just want to win the contest.'

"When that happens, look what he has done. Last year at this time, he was outside the top ten. He wasn't seeded at top ten at Wimbledon. He wins it. He wins the US Open, wins Australia, loses the French in tough semi-final and then does this.

"The guy is on a run right now, because he has his formula locked in!"

Few would argue with Djokovic going on to claim the most majors of all time, with Djokovic on sixteen, Nadal eighteen and Federer twenty.

That said, like James Bond himself, few would count against Federer going for decades yet.

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Djokovic Federer Nadal Novak Djokovic Rafa Nadak Roger Federer Tennis