Roger Federer (R) of Switzerland and Novak Djokovic of Serbia (Photo : REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)
Former Great Britain's no.1 netter Tim Henman is confident Novak Djokovic has all the tools to make a serious chase for Roger Federer's 17 Grand Slam championships, believing the Serb is like a machine comparable to the level of the Swiss Master during his prime.
Henman, who had his own shares of battles with Roger Federer (trailing the Swiss 6-7 in head-to-head encounter), thinks Djokovic is beginning to show to the world that he belongs to the same hierarchy as Federer and Rafael Nadal when it comes to greatness.
The Briton added that Djokovic's victory at the Australian Open and his current hot run (winning the first ATP 1000 Masters tournaments of the year) are only validations that the Serbian has already separated himself from the rest of the pack, starting a new of era of domination in tennis.
"Djokovic is the machine," Henman told the Telegraph Belfast. "It's the way he's hitting the ball from the baseline, how aggressively he plays and how he does it with so few unforced errors. His ability to turn defence into attack is second to none. He will be considered in the same class as Federer and Nadal.
Henman, who is a close friend to another Big Four member Andy Murray, stressed that Djokovic has a chance to add more Grand Slam and even make a serious pursuit of Federer's record haul if he continues this form for the next two or three years.
"Djokovic has won eight Slams but in the future that number is going to climb to 11, 12, 13 and maybe more. When he does that he will go down as one of the greats," according to Henman.
No.1 ranked Djokovic is fresh from bagging the Monte Carlo Master to kick start his clay-court campaign, while world's no.2 Federer is scheduled to make his debut in Istanbul for his second tournament on the red dirt this year.
