Tennis-Last man playing Djokovic sad that Big Four rivals are now gone

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By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) -Shortly before the time came to step onto court Philippe Chatrier with tennis veterans Roger Federer and Andy Murray to pay tribute to the recently retired Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic felt he owed much of his success to his former rivals.

The Big Four were together for a fleeting reunion but while neither Federer, Murray nor Nadal will be playing at the French Open, former world number one Djokovic, who has a record 24 Grand Slam titles to his name, will be in first-round action at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

“I was thinking about my end of the road as well last night or yesterday when we were watching Rafa having his speech, particularly those moments when we were in the back room, the three of us, and I was just talking to Federer and Murray about their goodbyes and reminiscing and reflecting on the rivalries, and of course part of me is proud that I’m still there, that I’m still going,” Djokovic told a press conference on Monday.

“But at the same time, I was, and I still am a bit sad that they’re all gone, because those guys were my greatest motivations of why I competed so intensely and for so long.”

Djokovic won his 100th singles title at the Geneva Open at the weekend, shortly after parting ways with his coach, Murray.

Both saw the irony of the situation.

“In terms of the joke about the tournament, he did congratulate me, and he said, ‘now that you have a proper coach, you’re winning tournaments’,” Djokovic said.

“I didn’t take that as a joke. Of course he was joking, but I will say it again: Andy is just an amazing person… For him to join my team and for us to give a shot to this player/coach relationship was really an incredible thing for tennis and for both of us.

“I was very privileged and honoured. I still think that he’s one of the most brilliant tennis IQ guys out there.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)