"Knew I wouldn't be satisfied with No. 3, I always wanted to be the best": When Novak Djokovic spoke on surpassing Federer & Nadal to attain his dream

Novak Djokovic once candidly discussed his satisfaction with achieving his goal of surpassing his arch-rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.

When Djokovic made his breakthrough on the tennis scene, Federer and Nadal were dominating, maintaining a stranglehold on the top two spots. The Serb trailed them as the World No. 3 before ascendinh to No. 1 in July 2011.

In 2012, he entered the Indian Wells Masters as the top seed for the first time. Following his opening-round win over Andrey Golubev, Novak Djokovic admitted that he had grappled with doubts about his ability to surpass his two biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, in the rankings.

"Well, I cannot particularly pick one moment that, you know, changed things around. But I think there was always belief in me that I could actually do it. There were doubts, as well. There is no question about it," he said in his post-match press conference.

"I went through the tough times where I didn't know really if I can make it, if I can, you know, overcome two biggest rivals and two most dominant players in the game in last seven, eight years," he added.

Djokovic also candidly disclosed that he wouldn't have been content trailing Federer and Nadal in the rankings, as he had long harbored the dream of becoming the World No. 1 and had always set high expectations for himself to be the best.

"Well, there was satisfaction for the results I had in those three, four years that I was No. 3 in the world. But it just wasn't enough, you know. I just‑‑ I always dreamed of being No. 1 of the world, winning majors, especially Wimbledon, so I always had high expectations for myself, my ambitions," he said.

"I knew that in the back of my mind I, you know, I wouldn't be satisfied with No. 3, you know. I always wanted to be the best. I think that desire helped me a lot," he added.

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Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to the 2012 Indian Wells title

Roger Federer won the 2012 BNP Paribas Open

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the top three seeds at the 2012 Indian Wells Masters, reached the semifinals.

Djokovic, who was the defending champion, reached the last-four with wins over the likes of Kevin Anderson, Pablo Andujar and Nicolas Almagro.

The Serb fell short against John Isner 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(5) in a hard-fought contest. Nadal, meanwhile, triumphed over Leonardo Mayer, Marcel Granollers, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and David Nalbandian to set up a blockbuster semifinal with Roger Federer.

Following wins over Denis Kudla, Milos Raonic, Thomaz Bellucci and Juan Martin del Potro, Federer claimed a dominant 6-3, 6-4 win over Nadal. The Swiss legend then beat John Isner 7-6(7), 6-3 to clinch his fourth Indian Wells title.