‘Drives You Crazy’: Diego Schwartzman Shares the Difficulty of Facing Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is currently the best player on the ATP circuit. In fact, he has been in that position for quite some time now. Moreover, the Serbian great ended 2021 as the World No. 1 for a record-breaking seventh time.

Not only his fans but his peers and rivals on the tour have acknowledged his prowess at the game as well, who’s a menace with his constant movement and accuracy. World No. 13 Diego Schwartzman recently shared how it feels to play against Novak.

Schwartzman praises the way Novak Djokovic moves on court

In an interview with Argentinian outlet Filo News, Diego Schwartzman opened up about several things. The former World No. 8 talked about his childhood and how he began playing tennis. Moreover, he described how it felt to become one of the top players.

In fact, he even shared details about his relationship with the Big Three- Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. Diego also discusses his plans after retirement in the future.

Speaking about the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Schwartzman was all praises. He first talked about Novak’s movement on the court. “Djokovic is something else, it’s like he’s controlled by a joystick,” Schwartzman said.

He described the difficulty in keeping up with the way Djokovic changes directions promptly. “It’s very difficult to be able to sustain what he’s doing, the changes of directions. There comes a time when you can’t keep up with him,” Diego shared.

“The way he changes directions- at that high level of tennis, the changes in direction are difficult to think about. The ball is coming at 100 kilometers per hour,” Diego added.

ALSO READ: ‘Beating Novak Djokovic Made me Feel Invincible’: Alexander Zverev Snubs Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022 Predictions

“Maybe in sight it doesn’t attract people as much as Rafa or Federer so much. But it drives you crazy, with the joystick in hand,” he says, comparing the Serb to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Djokovic and Schwartzman head-to-head

Djokovic and Schwartzman have met only six times on the ATP tour. In their career meetings, the Serbian has prevailed every single time. The duo have played half of their matches on clay, and the other half on hard courts.

Their head-to-head record certainly indicates that the Argentinian star has faced difficulty constantly in beating Novak. Hopefully, he’ll finally be able to get the better of the Serb if they face each other in 2022.

DIVE DEEPER: Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic Don’t Have a Rivalry, Says Former Wimbledon Champion