Rafael Nadal engaged in psychological warfare with Novak Djokovic during the height of their rivalry, according to tennis great Boris Becker.Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer made up the sport’s big three, who dominated the men’s game for 15 years and won 66 Grand Slam titles between them.
All three have said it was hard to be friends during their long period of dominance, although the mutual respect among the trio was immense. However, that didn’t stop them from trying to get under each other’s skin on occasion. A quirk of tennis sees rival players prepare for Grand Slam finals in the same locker room, giving them a pre-match opportunity to strike a mental blow on their opponent. Ahead of one big match, Nadal tried such a trick against Djokovic, who was then coached by three-time Wimbledon champion Becker. He recalled the incident during his appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast.
On the tense atmosphere that often prevailed, Becker said: “Staring each other out. Looking at each other, who blinks first, who walks away, who takes more space in the locker room? You know, who puts his entourage next to him a little bit just to spread the muscles, as we say.
On Nadal’s mind games, he revealed: “You know who was very good at that, always Nadal. When I was coaching Djokovic, I mean, Nadal came with his entourage and he just blocked the whole corner just to say, ‘This is my locker room.'”
Theroux was taken aback by the thought of two illustrious rivals sharing the same space ahead of a match. Becker admitted it was a unique situation in sport.
He said: “In the locker room, you’re sitting next to your opponent, the guy you’re playing the Wimbledon final in a half an hour. I mean, no other sport has that.”