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Tennis

Roger Federer on Novak Djokovic: 'If You're Not Fit Enough, Get Out of Here'

Posted Jan 28, 2009 10:54AM By Shane Bacon (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Grand Slam, Australian Open

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As Tuesday's Australian Open match between Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic was nearing an end, and Djokovic was moving around the court with the grace of a dump truck, the ESPN commentators asked an open question about the Serb's conditioning: "What will his peers say off the record?"

It was the Serb's fourth retired match in a Grand Slam, and Djokovic (right) is only 21. Also, coincidentally, Roddick had called out Djokovic for being a little bit of an injury-milker at the U.S. Open last year, so this issue has been raised before. Well, no less an authority than Roger Federer spoke about the matter, and it wasn't off the record. He flat out said Djokovic needs to do something to be more fit.
"He's not a guy who's never given up before ... it's disappointing," said Federer, who will face Roddick in the semifinals. "I've only done it once in my career ... Andy totally deserved to win that match."

"I'm almost in favor of saying, you know what, if you're not fit enough, just get out of here," Federer added. "If Novak were up two sets to love I don't think he would have retired 4-0 down in the fourth. Thanks to Andy that he retired in the end. Andy pushed him to the limits. Hats off to Andy."
Yes, Novak. The answer is yes. Yes, you just got called out by one of the best tennis players in the history of the game because you were hot.

We all know that Novak struggles with hot weather, which is understandable, but you know Melbourne is going to be toasty come Australian Open time. It always is. How can you not prepare for it?

Roddick, at times in his career, has looked under-prepared, but 2009 seems a touch different. He recently dropped some pounds by working hard and changing his diet, because he wanted to compete against these top players. If you're a player that knows he will struggle when the temperates soar, don't you find a way to prepare? Like go play tennis in the desert or practice and then go sit in a sauna? Maybe not.
"Didn't really have time to recover," Djokovic said. "Conditions were extreme today. It did affect more on me than him, as you could see. But, you know, that was the situation. I just have to cope with it. Really tried my best, but sometimes you can't fight against your own body."
Yes, but you know it is a Grand Slam and you know it is going to be tough, so while your body might not have been ready for such a beating, it could have been.

Tags: Andy+Roddick, AndyRoddick, australian+open, AustralianOpen, Novak+Djokovic, NovakDjokovic, Roger+Federer, RogerFederer

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Greg Couch

Greg CouchGreg Couch is a national columnist and award-winning tennis writer for FanHouse.com. A former ranked amateur tennis player, who dabbled in a few pro tournaments, he came to FanHouse after 12 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. "The best tennis writer in America," according to Jason Whitlock, national columnist and guest host of the Jim Rome radio show.

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