Novak Djokovic made a name for himself in 2006. The young Serb scored 40 ATP victories and became one of the youngsters to watch. Rafael Nadal led the new generation of players born around 1986. Djokovic was ready to join him at the top in 2007, finishing the previous season just outside the top-15 and setting high goals ahead of the new one.
Novak kicked off 2007 with the Adelaide title and wished for more at the Australian Open. The Serb could have played better in Melbourne in the previous two years. He changed that with a strong performance in the opening three rounds in 2007 to enter the last 16.
The Belgrade native needed 81 minutes to topple Nicolas Massu in the first round, dropping four games and gaining a boost. A teenager did not have too many issues in the second round against Feliciano Lopez, controlling the scoreboard and moving into the third round.
The Serb ousted Danai Udomchoke in four sets to book a place in the last 16. Thus, Novak won three consecutive encounters at Majors for the second time and set the clash against world no. 1 Roger Federer. The Swiss won the previous two meetings against the Serb in 2006.
Novak was ready to change that in Melbourne, hoping to bring his A-game and stick to his baseline game that would trouble the defending champion.
Novak Djokovic faced Roger Federer in the 2007 Australian Open fourth round.
Djokovic was ready to leave everything on the court and play intelligent tennis against the world’s leading tennis figure.
Before the encounter, Novak joked about trying to follow Nadal’s pattern and beat Roger by playing with his left hand. The Serb was ready to give his best against world no. 1, hoping to find weak spots in Roger’s game and overpower him from the baseline.
“I can take a racquet in my left hand and try to beat Roger, as Rafael Nadal does. I mean, Nadal and I have a completely different game. He is one of the fastest players and a big fighter. Rafa is a lefty and produced those heavy spins that give him the advantage against Roger.
I will not go for spins because that’s not my game. I will try to find some weak spots in Roger’s game and win the match, although it will not be easy,” Novak Djokovic said.
