Roger Federer snubs Novak as Djokovic left out in the cold

It was rightly hailed as a classy gesture but Roger Federer’s love-fest with Rafael Nadal represented an insulting omission for someone else.

There are still two main players in the Big Three.

Another chapter was added to the debate about who the greatest male tennis player of all time is when Rafael Nadal claimed his 13th French Open title earlier this week.

The Spaniard blitzed Novak Djokovic in straight sets to equal Roger Federer on 20 career grand slam crowns, while the Serbian missed the chance to edge closer to his fiercest rivals and remains next best with 17 majors.

All the talk in the aftermath was about Nadal and Federer, and who would be the first to break the deadlock by winning 21 grand slams before the other. Even though Federer wasn’t playing in Paris — he’s out of action for the year recovering from a knee injury — the Swiss Maestro was front and centre of the post-match analysis.

The 39-year-old then put himself even more firmly in the frame with a classy message congratulating Nadal that went viral on social media. Federer praised his “greatest rival” saying, among other things, “I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and a champion”.

Yet the love-in between Federer and Nadal — and the way the tennis world swooned over the pair — highlighted once again no matter how great Djokovic’s claim is to being the GOAT, he still remains an outsider among the Big Three.

“It does make me feel a bit for Novak Djokovic because even on the day that was supposed to be about Djokovic and Nadal, their 56th meeting in the most prolific rivalry in men’s tennis, it still ended up being about Nadal and Federer,” broadcaster Catherine Whitaker said on The Tennis Podcast.

“He was still the third wheel even on a day when Federer wasn’t playing.”

As BBC tennis commentator David Law pointed out, it didn’t help that Federer’s message made no mention of Djokovic whatsoever. No commiserations or congratulations for getting to the final in the first place.

“Federer didn’t mention him in the note, which I must admit I did look down and I thought, ‘Oh, no, can’t see that’. Maybe that’s just an oversight,” Law told The Tennis Podcast.

“I thought he might have done, just to say ‘unlucky’, but here we are.”

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Federer attracted more headlines than Djokovic without even playing in Paris.

Unfortunately for him, being excluded from Federer-Nadal GOAT discussions, and being relegated to a lower rung than those two, is something Djokovic is used to. He’s been openly jeered on centre courts at Wimbledon and the Australian Open during finals he’s gone on to win, because the crowd simply liked the bloke on the other side of the net more.

All the chat about Federer and Nadal after the Roland Garros decider must have stung Djokovic. He’s said repeatedly his goal is to win the most grand slams of all time, and break Federer’s record for most weeks spent as world No. 1 (310).

But the top-ranked player on the planet wasn’t feeling the love.

And what about Federer referring to Nadal as his “greatest rival” after Djokovic, ahead of his blockbuster meeting on clay with the left-hander, said of him and Nadal: “Our head-to-head is the biggest head-to-head ever in the history of the sport ... he’s definitely my greatest rival.”

Apart from being pulled up for ignoring rivalries in women’s tennis with that claim, there must be a part of Djokovic that feels miffed at why Federer classes Nadal, rather than him, as his biggest adversary.

After all, Federer and Nadal have met 40 times (Nadal leads 24-16) while Djokovic and the Fed Express have met 50 times, with the Serbian boasting a 27-23 record.

Meanwhile, Djokovic has beaten Nadal 29 times and lost 27 of their 56 matches.

The Big Three are in a league of their own but no matter how hard to tries to crack it, there’s a sense Federer and Nadal are part of an even more exclusive club Djokovic will never gain access to.

Maybe that will change if he does become the outright slams leader, but after everything Djokovic has brought upon himself — think spreading COVID-19 on his dreaded Adria Tour, his anti-vaccination chat and hitting a lineswoman in the throat with a ball at the US Open — there’s a real risk no amount of trophies is ever going to be enough for the 33-year-old to achieve what he desperately craves more than anything — respect.