Why Roger Federer 'never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal' revealed by former rival
NewsSunday, 14 December 2025 at 18:00
Roger Federer never practiced with some of his biggest rivals, at least according to Andy Murray, who also revealed the reason behind such an approach.
Federer is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The 20-time Grand Slam champion popularized the sport around the world with how effortlessly he was able to beat his opponents.
His battles with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Murray were also incredibly exciting, but his approach to those matches was quite interesting. Murray spoke about that during his recent appearance on the Stephen Hendry Cue Tips YouTube channel.
While some tennis players don't mind practicing with their biggest rivals, like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Federer had a different approach. According to Murray, he never practiced with the other players from the Big Four.
"I would practice with them, I’d practice with Djokovic and Nadal. When I first started, I would practice with Federer. But after a year or two he stopped, he wouldn’t practice with me anymore. He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal, I think because he considered them to be a competitor."
Federer's approach to the rivalries was clear, but the question is whether it helped him or not. He has a losing head-to-head record against Djokovic, who beat him 27 times in 50 matches. Nadal was also the more successful player in his rivalry against the Swiss player, winning 24 out of 40 matches.
The only Big Four player Federer has beaten more times is Murray, who approached the rivalries differently from the Swiss Maestro. The former British player liked practicing against his rivals to compare where his game stands.
"I like practicing with them just because it gave me the chance to see where my game was at. I wouldn’t practice with them a couple of days before a big match, but a couple weeks out from a major tournament, then I would practice with those guys."
Murray revealed that during his playing career, he would never go out for dinner with his rivals. Now, that obviously changed, and the 38-year-old would want to spend more time with his former rivals.
"I was never going for dinner with them. Whereas now I’d love to do that, see them a few times socially."
That was different during his playing days. Murray wanted to speak to his friends about his struggles, but he couldn't do that if he were talking to his rivals, as they could then abuse that.
"Generally, if I’m socialising with friends and family, you want to feel like you can tell them if you’re struggling with something. But if you’re competing against them, you wouldn’t do it."
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