Dear Novak, Love Roger: Two Tennis Greats Trade Emails During the U.S. Open Men’s Final

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:03 PM
Subject: :(

Dear Novak,

You watching this?

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: :(

jajaja bro got the 92” fired up in the media room, jelena made these gluten free pierogi

<1 attachment: pierogi.jpg>

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Cool. I just wanted to check on you, you know, because I thought you might be feeling pretty bad that you weren’t out there.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: :(

<1 attachment: pierogi2.jpg>

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:11 PM
Subject: Re: :(

I thought you might be feeling…I don’t know. I mean I’m just speculating, but kind of a swirling black mass right behind your heart? Kind of a swelling ache, like every breath leaves you a little more full of hopelessness?

I just wanted to say, you know, if you were feeling those things, it would be all right. I would understand.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: :(

i feel you Bro but i cant stay mad when ive got these pierogi, plus you know im about to be a father soon

haha kei just wasted his first break chance

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:22 PM
Subject: Re: :(

No, I mean, that makes a lot of sense to me. It does. Sometimes I look at the twins, or at the other twins, and I can’t quite believe it’s real, you know? And I’m not just talking there about my 17 major championships, or my 237 consecutive weeks at number one, or my being arguably the greatest player our sport has ever seen…I’m talking about everything. Life. Time. How we got here.

Just watched Nishikori dump a serve into the net. I feel like it should be us out there, Novak.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:23 PM
Subject: Re: :(

hey bud if youre feeling sad we can talk about this

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Hey hey hey, wait a second, Novak. I was worried you were feeling sad. Why would I be feeling sad? Personally, I’m very fortunate. Everywhere I go people tell me how much I mean to them, how much joy I’ve brought them. Everyone wants me to autograph their RF-insignia champagne flutes. The ink wipes right off the crystal, but they always ask me anyway. I’ve changed people’s lives, you know? What would I have to be sad about?

There’s the break. Marin is serving amazing out there. I’m happy for him. Just forget what I said before. I feel perfectly happy.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: :(

ok bro this is fixable but we have to start with your diet, have you eaten wheat germ in the last 96 hours? if youre in a rye spiral dr novak is prescribing probiotics plus a full paleo reset, first pound this

ROSEMARY SPAGHETTI SQUASH EGG NESTS
2-3 medium garlic cloves, finely minced
1 large egg
1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
4-6 additional large eggs
oil

heat a spoon under a flame, make your egg nest, then broil all this at about 575F, add cracked black pepper to taste

and remember. probiotics, probiotics, probiotics. you literally cannot eat/think about them enough.

theres the first set to cilic lolol not bad for a croatian

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Why do you keep assuming I’m upset? I mean, yeah, OK, I guess there are times when I feel like — well, to be honest, sometimes it’s like there’s this other person in my brain, you know? I call him Other Roger. I’ll be sitting on my white leather sofa in the white leather room, maybe talking to Mirka, or maybe Mirka’s texting and I’m just flipping through some coffee table book of all-white clocks, and I’ll be thinking how do they even get clocks to be so white, and then suddenly Other Roger pops in and starts whispering that maybe I’m not so good at everything, maybe I’m past my best, like, sure, there are forums on the Internet dedicated to how handsome you are, and you have your own insignia line, and you reached 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals, but what does it even mean if it’s all in the past, if you’re crumbling, if you can’t hang on. So, yes, sure, sometimes it feels to me like time is disappearing and I don’t know where it’s going and there’s no other question that matters. But that doesn’t mean I’m unhappy. Does it?

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: :(

<1 attachment: pierogi3.jpg>

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:19 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Kei is getting hammered out there.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: :(

i just told jelena, i cant believe i lost to this guy lol. legs look like asparagus (haha not really, im highly pro asparagus)

but no i mean i feel you man. i do. everyone this week keeps yapping like tesla, jelena’s little labradoodle. yip yip yip, the big four are over. yip yip, it’s time for new blood in men’s tennis. im telling you rog, i do not feel “over”. i do not feel like i have a perfect input/output cycle of 4400 kCal/day + <40g carbohydrate + 0g sugar since 2012 to be “over”. i do not feel like i wear custom orthotics designed to correct my ankles’ natural overpronation to be “over”, like i calibrate step counts based on the expected temperature in melbourne in jan to be “over”. bro, if im honest, i do not even worry. bc as long as i know exactly which brain wave patterns are most conducive to achieving rem sleep at exactly 4:37 am and as long as i have the Bose to make that happen, i am /never/ going be “over”, I am /never/ going to have to stop

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:50 PM
Subject: Re: :(

I think I know what you’re saying. And I mean, that’s probably why I feel so good, you know? I’m never going to be “over” either, because what I’ve accomplished, it belongs to all my fans, it belongs to history. And that means living forever. It means being immortal, in a way. Doesn’t it?

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:54 PM
Subject: Re: :(

i mean if you look at it objectively — like /really/ objectively. getting older is just science. its a scientific process. dying is a scientific process. if youre really careful, if you really study the research and you put in the work…..well why shouldnt you be able to reverse that process? why should you /ever/ have to get old?

kei is toast, btw. cant believe he blew those bps. like, he literally looks like he ate toast for breakfast this morning.

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Marin Cilic is one game away from winning the U.S. Open. I guess no matter how amazing you are, history is always going to find a del Potro.

I wonder where Rafa is right now. I wonder what he’s thinking.

Other Roger just said, wherever he is, he’s not wondering the same thing about you.

You know the thing about all-white clocks is that sometimes you can’t even tell time on them? The hands and the dial and the face are all the same color, so you have to rely on the angle of the shadows, which — well, it seems like it would work all right, but sometimes it looks a lot clearer in the coffee table books. In real life, a lot of the time, it’s more like a kind of white blur. I’ve bought more than my fair share of these things, believe me.

I don’t really know what the appeal is. I guess it has to do with the idea that you can disguise time, that you can’t see the movement. I mean, maybe the impossibility of reading them is even part of the point, you know? Because if time is always uniform and invisible then it doesn’t really pass, does it? Past, present, and future are all the same. You never have to let anything go. You’re always living all of it.

I don’t know. Maybe I just like white.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: :(

lol marin won the us open while i was reading that

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:14 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Marin won the U.S. Open right after I pressed send. Sigh. I don’t even know what we’re talking about here, Novak.

Only…have you ever seen my Netjets commercials? They’re amazing. Truly, I’m so fortunate to be able to star in some of the greatest commercials of — well, some people would say of all time. There’s one where I’m flying in this beautiful white jet, and I’m drinking a white wine or something, and the camera pulls back so that you see me, in the window, holding my wineglass, then keeps pulling back until you see that the plane is heading toward this amazing sunset, a sunset so red and intense that it actually colors the hull of the plane in this kind of swirling pink. The plane looks like a pearl. I think about that image all the time, don’t ask me why. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It’s CGI, so it’s better than a real sky. I just wonder if that’s what’s left, I guess. Flying silently and forever into an endless orange sunset, drinking wine.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: :(

hey rog bud i dont want to sour your fantasy here but if that wine is south american youre going to want to check the sulfite content bc some of that poison can blow up your triglicerides

whoops gotta go man, time for oxygen therapy + then jelena wants to look at cribs on the internet. so much of this stuff now! so excited about australia + lil future djokovic!

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:25 PM
Subject: Re: :(

Sure, OK. Mirka just texted me that it’s time to see the girls after their bath and maybe read some stories. I do like reading the stories. I like feeling like they want me to be there for that. I try not to take that for granted. I’m happy, you know? It seems like everything lasts for such a long time, and then it doesn’t, but still, I think I’m happy. Didn’t win the U.S. Open, but I have such a good life.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: :(

<2 attachments: ultrasound.jpg, futureno1seed.jpg>

 

From: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
To: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:31 PM

Subject: Re: :(

!! I don’t know what to say. Thanks, Novak.

xRF

Roger Federer
“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.” —Bertrand Russell

 

From: Novak Djokovic <serbianwaterpolo@info-net.rs>
To: Roger Federer <rogerfederer1@me.com>
Date: September 8, 2014 7:34 PM
Subject: Re: :(

lol any time bro, talk soon

Filed Under: Tennis, US Open, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, emails

Brian Phillips is a staff writer for Grantland.

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