"Roger Federer wouldn't have been disqualified" - When Novak Djokovic's 'tennis father' said 'the West had a problem' with accepting Serb's greatness

Novak Djokovic once received strongly worded support from his mentor and former Croatian tennis player, Nikola Pilic, after his controversial exit at the 2020 US Open. Pilic brought up Roger Federer as he made a stern point about how the Serb's success was viewed in the West.

With both Rafael Nadal and Federer missing in action, Djokovic was the clear favorite to clinch his 18th Grand Slam title at the US Open that year. The Serb was in stellar form heading into the Major, having won the Australian Open at the start of the year and triumphed at the Cincinnati Open in the lead-up to his campaign. Living up to expectations, the top seed breezed into the fourth round without much trouble.

Novak Djokovic then battled it out against Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarterfinals, with the Spaniard leading 6-5 in the opening set when the match took a controversial turn. Frustrated after getting his serve broken, the Serb hit a ball to the back of the court in anger, which accidentally struck a lineswoman in the throat. The incident led to him being defaulted from the tournament by the officials.

Speaking to Croatian newspaper Vecernji list in 2021, Nikola Pilic, whom Novak Djokovic has described as his "tennis father," criticized the way the Serb was perceived in the West. Pilic expressed his belief that the Western public had a "problem" with a player from a small country dominating the sport.

The Croatian even suggested that Roger Federer would've escaped any punishment had he been in the same position as his rival during that controversial incident at the US Open.

"I think his success has hurt the West in a different way. By their understanding of things, the level Djokovic has reached was reserved for someone from the West; and then comes a guy from a small country to dominate the world of tennis. Had Roger Federer done what Novak did at the US Open 2020, he would not have been disqualified. (The West) has a problem with Novak being the best," Pilic said.

"I am not being biased, Novak Djokovic is the best of all time" - Nikola Pilic on the Serb's edge over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

The Serb, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray - Source: Getty

In the same interview, Nikola Pilic said that he had refrained from crowning Novak Djokovic as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) until the Serb won his 20th Grand Slam title at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

"Djokovic is just phenomenal, he has worked a lot, with no shortcuts. I remember that Serbian journalists were all over me in 2019 trying to get me to say that Novak is the best. I did not want to say it until he won Wimbledon this year. The day he did that, I took a complete and thorough look at the numbers," Pilic said.

Pilic went on to highlight Djokovic's remarkable list of records, pointing out how he had the edge over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in several aspects of the sport.

"Novak has got the same number of slam titles as Nadal and Federer, better head-to-head against both, and he is going towards 350 weeks at the top of the rankings. He has won the most Masters titles, he is the only player to have won every Slam at least twice, and at one point he had almost 17,000 ATP points – in that moment, he accumulated more points than Murray, Nadal and Federer combined. I am not being biased, Novak is the best of all time," he added.

Since then, Novak Djokovic has only strengthened his case for being considered the greatest by surpassing Federer and Nadal's Major tallies. He has amassed 24 Grand Slam titles and broken Serena Williams' record to become the player with the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.