Roger Federer has hauled in 27 masters 1000 titles in his career so far, having played in 48 finals. Despite the numbers the Swiss maestro recognized the fact that these tournaments were very difficult to win. Which is why he was full of reverence for Novak Djokovic when he won the title in Cincinnati earlier this year. Djokovic, who completed the Career Golden Masters, was the first player ever to achieve the record, was lauded by Roger Federer for accomplishing the feat.

“He’s a great champion and this is what this should be about”, said Federer. “It’s about him making history, This is an amazing accomplishment, and I hope he’s extremely proud and extremely happy about that moment. I think it’s an amazing accomplishment.”

“I think it’s extremely difficult to win a Masters 1000. These tournaments don’t come easy”, said Federer. “It’s tough, grueling. The best players are playing. You play against tough guys early on in the draw, so you don’t have much time to find your rhythm and actually almost work on your game throughout the week”.

Federer also said that the records that were made and broken will be talked about for years, and that it was a special accomplishment for Djokovic to achieve. “All these records that a player creates, at the end you’re going to all judge it all together, bundle it up and say, ‘Okay, what was the coolest thing you ever did?’” said Roger Federer. “This might be it for Novak besides winning all the Slams and all the other things he’s done already.”

Federer will be heading to the Shanghai masters 1000 after a disappointing loss at the US open earlier this year. Federer revealed that the people were very nice with him there and he loved coming back to the tournament. “Several times I toured with Pete Sampras here in Asia”, said Federer. “For that reason I’ve enjoyed coming back here. I’ve also come on vacation to this continent many, many times. For me it’s very important when I saw the potential, and how nice the people are over here, to promote the game more over here.”