Top two losing grip on Slams – Djokovic

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:01

Grand slam record holder Federer and reigning Australian Open champion Nadal have shared 20 of the past 24 grand slam titles on offer and are the two favourites heading into the Australian Open which begins on Monday.

“The last five, six years the dominance was obvious from Federer, Nadal,” Djokovic said. “They’ve been winning all the grand slams they’ve played. But now in last two years or so the things are changing a little bit.”

He added: “It’s good for the sport and it’s good for us, the group of the players that is trying to catch up with Federer and Nadal. We have more belief that we can win a grand slam.”

Nadal heads to Melbourne Park having not won a singles title in eight months while there is speculation Federer may find it harder to maintain his steely focus after he became a father last year.

And with the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko and Djokovic, who won the Australian Open two years ago, on the rise, the Serbian believes men’s tennis is more competitive than it has ever been during the Federer-Nadal era.

Despite that Djokovic, who has not been able to add to his success at Melbourne Park two years ago, admits Federer and Nadal are still the favourites in Australia.

“Obviously Federer, Nadal are the best two players of the world are the two biggest favourites to win it again this year,” he said.

“Then you have Del Potro, Murray, Roddick, Davydenko. They’re all in great shape, great form.

“I think it’s getting very interesting, men’s tennis. It’s good for the sport to have a good group of the players that are able to win a major event or a grand slam. I think over the years this can be one of the most exciting grand slams.”

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