Tennis lovers have been blessed with two of the greatest players ever to play the game in the same era. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have thrilled crowds all over the world with superlative tennis time after time that a major tournament without either is almost impossible to comprehend.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are seen as the heir apparents, and the former believes once the two greats retire, the onus will be on himself and Murray, along with the youngsters to ensure the level of competitiveness remains the same.
"Well, it's great what we're in," Djokovic told reporters after his 6-3, 6-2 second round win over Grigor Dmitrov in the Shanghai Masters. "There's no doubt about it. Federer and Nadal are two very popular athletes.
"Maybe two out of four best players ever to play this game. So to be able to compete with them, it is something special.
"But I know as somebody, when I was starting to play professional tennis tournaments, got to No. 3 of the world, I know how much struggle I had to go through mentally. Obviously with confidence and self‑belief, after I lost many of the important matches against those guys. But they made me also work harder. They made me believe more in myself, be more professional, more dedicated.
"It is great to be part of their era. It is what it is. But as expected in a course of life you get a new generation that is coming up. Andy won his first Grand Slam this year. But he always was one of the best players in the world in the last four years. We have (Juan Martin) Del Potro. We have some newcomers like (Milos) Raonic, (Tomas) Berdych is always there, and (Bernard) Tomic.
"Let's call it Federer and Nadal's fault that those guys were not able to make a bigger breakthrough, faster breakthrough to the top 10. But I think today the tennis is much more competitive physically and mentally also.
"By all of the top players playing the major events and not getting injured on a regular basis in the last five years, that says enough about the level of tennis that we are in right now. So it makes it more difficult for the young talents to come up and make a breakthrough.
"We'll see. I believe that tennis will stay the way it is because we're experiencing some really good times. I'm sure that more players will join that top group."
While Djokovic is one of the most popular players on the tour, the Serbian admitted the tournaments were not the same without Nadal, who is out injured. "There is definitely a difference when he's around and when he's not around," the Australian Open champion said. "I don't think there's a big difference, a significant one which would maybe affect in a negative way tournaments where we are playing.
"But there is still a big group of people that follows him, support him. He's definitely one of the best tennis players ever to play the game and an extremely popular global, successful athlete, recognized all over the world. So there is a certain excitement when he's around, that's for sure."
Djokovic, after his win over Dmitrov, said his thanks to the crowd in Chinese while also signing his autographs in the language, and the Serbian admitted he had taken time to learn the new language. "I've learned that from my fans in Beijing, how to draw the sign, how to write it," he said. "As I understood, that is representing the certain letter that is my nickname in Chinese, how they call me.
"So I try to make my promise and return to the fans at least a piece of love that they've been giving me in this two weeks here in Asia.
"I've been enjoying their support. It's interesting. I try to learn always languages and cultures where I'm in, where I'm playing. Hopefully I can get something more out of that."
