Novak Djokovic's belief to beat dominant Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal duo was "not cockiness, but confidence" says Patrick Mouratoglou

Dismissing Novak Djokovic's naysayers, top tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has said that the Serbian great's open challenge to the dominant Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal back in the day should be viewed as confidence and "not cockiness."

Mouratoglou suggested that the now 21-time Major champion's belief that he could beat Federer and Nadal at the Grand Slams set him apart from all the other players on tour at the time, and is an example for the current young generation to follow.

Mouratoglou recently revealed that, while Federer and Nadal were dominating the tour at the same time, around 2005-07, he had conversations with many Top-10 players back then, none of whom believed they could beat the duo and win even one Grand Slam. But Djokovic had different ideas and publicly stated that he could beat both Federer and Nadal.

"I always tell this story, that when Roger and Rafa were dominating the men's tour outrageously, I had discussions with most of the Top-10s and they were saying to me that it was impossible to win a Slam, in their mind," Mouratoglou said while reminiscing on the same, in a video on his social media channel.

"Then a young guy, 19 years old, suddenly came out and said publicly, 'I'm gonna beat them.' And this guy was Novak Djokovic."

While many viewed it as a cocky attitude on the Serb's part, Mouratoglou believes the then 19-year-old Djokovic exuded confidence and belief, which eventually helped him beat 'Fedal' and have great rivalries with them, and form the 'Big 3' of men's tennis.

"The tennis world said, 'What a shame, how this guy can be so cocky?' and things like this. It's not cockiness, it's confidence, and he happened to do it. Not because he said it, but because he deeply believed it," the French coach added.

Now that Federer has retired but Djokovic and Nadal are still going strong at the very top of the world stage, Mouratoglou believes most of the younger players in the current generation are suffering from a lack of belief to beat the legendary duo.

Mouratoglou, who is Serena Williams' former coach, opined that the difference between good players and champions is that players in the latter category believe they have no limits.

"A lot of players don't believe that they can beat Novak, Rafa, at all," continued Mouratoglou. "Some others think they cannot beat them in a Grand Slam."

"So what is impossible to envision is impossible to do, as simple as that. The champions are able to not foresee any limits within themselves. That's the big difference."

Novak Djokovic faces Grigor Dimitrov next in his bid to tie Rafael Nadal in Grand Slam record

Novak Djokovic celebrates during the 2023 Australian Open.

15 years since he won his first Grand Slam singles title, Novak Djokovic is inching closer to holding the all-time Grand Slam title record, albeit sharing it for now with great rival Rafael Nadal. In his bid to win his 10th Australian Open and record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title, the Serb next faces Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open on Friday.

Back when Djokovic won his maiden Grand Slam singles title at the 2008 Australian Open, he became the first man other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win a Grand Slam tournament after 11 consecutive Majors. By winning the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, he moved past Federer in the Grand Slam race for the first time ever.

The 35-year-old enters Friday's match against Dimitrov on the back of a 23-match winning run at the Melbourne Grand Slam but some lingering injury issues.