Novak Djokovic is now considered the greatest ever by many, but he acknowledges that his younger self irritated fellow legend Roger Federer.
Djokovic is in the middle of trying to win an unprecedented 11th Australian Open, but still took time to reflect on how his initial rise in the sport affected the more experienced players in the game at the time.
The Serbian looked very good in his latest match in Melbourne. Djokovic played his best match of the tournament so far to defeat Tomas Martin Etcheverry convincingly in straight sets.
Djokovic's level of tennis can never be doubted, but his personality and behavior have also generated attention. This is still the case, with a recent example being Djokovic confronting a heckler at the Australian Open.
However, his behavior as a young player is what bothered some of the players at that time, mostly because he was really confident, and Djokovic spoke in a press conference about how it annoyed Federer.
"I know Federer certainly didn't like the way I was behaving at the beginning. I think it didn't sit with him well. I don't know about the others."
Djokovic feels that how open he was about wanting to be the best player in the world unsettled some of the other top players in the world at the time.
"I guess I wasn't the favourite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world. I was kind of- not kind of- I was confident, and I felt I had the game to back it up."
However, Djokovic is adamant that he never lacked respect for his opponents and finished his answer to the question by making that clear.
"I never, ever lacked respect. Whenever I start a match, before the match or finish the match, I would always greet the opponent, always acknowledge. Respect is something that I was taught that needs to be present regardless of what is happening."
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