After more than a decade of competing at the top of tennis, Novak Djokovic is still searching for crowd support.
Novak Djokovic is no Jimmy Connors. I think it’s important to establish that as a baseline before I write anything else. I have rubbed elbows with Djokovic at tournaments often enough over the years to observe that he generally has the respect of fellow players, officials, and tournament workers. He is polite, intelligent, and he has proven to be a quiet and generous philanthropist. He is, in short, a very decent chap.
Combine those qualities with his brilliance on court and other-worldly mental toughness and you have all the makings of a tennis darling. On paper he should be one of the most beloved players of all time.
Except he isn’t. At all. In fact, I brought Connors up because except for Jimmy, I can’t think of another player who had the crowds against him as consistently as Djokovic does.
Connors was NOT a decent chap. He was a bully, a sometimes cheater, fond of telling other peoples’ secrets that the public had no right to know. He was vulgar, profane and a poor sport. He deserved to have the crowd against him. Yet even he managed to win them over at the end of his career, a testimony to his unapologetic contempt for public opinion. People have a grudging respect for a guy who actually doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.
Djokovic DOES care, of course. In 2019, Nick Kyrgios observed that Djokovic has “…a sick obsession with wanting to be liked.” He’s half right. Djokovic wants to be liked. It’s probably bewildering for him that after all this time, any given crowd will pull rather vocally for his opponent–even a guy like Kyrgios who I have personally seen lose a match on purpose.
But it’s not a sick obsession…it’s a normal reaction to injustice. It is quite literally unfair. He’s a good person, a great champion, and the fine crowds of Indian Wells will predictably cheer with all their hearts for world No. 109 Taro Daniel. Just as they would for Philipp Kohlschreiber or Pablo Andujar. Or anyone, really.
The why is more complicated and multi-faceted. On the face of it, Kyrgios’s insults, which include calling Nole’s on-court celebrations “cringeworthy,” tell the story. And indeed, there is something slightly….er….feral about Djokovic. Especially when he’s winning. The chest thumping, eye-bulging, shirt-ripping displays would fit in better at a professional wrestling event than a tennis match.
That he panders to an unsympathetic crowd is awkward and sometimes even leans towards uncomfortable. But I have watched him for his entire career and he has never done anything that comes close to Daniil Medvedev’s on-court antics over the past two years. The Russian threw COINS towards chair umpire Mariana Alves during a match. He flipped off the crowd in NYC. He danced while they booed him and told them he was winning because of them while they were actively hissing at him. Yet by the time he played the final in the same tournament, they were cheering wildly for him. Tennis fans are a fickle lot.
No, it’s not about who Djokovic is or what he does and has done…or at least it’s not only about that. It’s about who he isn’t. He’s not Federer and he’s not Nadal. That he’s nipping at their Grand Slam count heels is almost surely his most unforgivable sin and it’s the reason fans may never embrace him for the great champion that he is. He has, in fact, done something I would have thought impossible in 2008. He united the Fedal fanbase.
Actually, I should say more precisely that Federer and Nadal are united and, by extension, so are their fanbases. They’ve become a unit, a single Fedal entity who swoops in to save the ATP Player Council from its embattled president (Djokovic). A single Fedal entity that donates together to Australia wildfire relief. A single Fedal entity that plays The Match in Africa.
Maybe I’m creating a connection with Djokovic that doesn’t exist. Maybe Nadal and Federer are just enjoying a blossoming bromance that has nothing to do with Djokovic breathing down their collective necks. Maybe. Then again, Fed said just this month (referring to his record of most Slam titles) “If he (Nadal) catches me, it’s OK.” Nadal. Not Nadal and Djokovic.
I take nothing away from Federer and Nadal. If two players ever earned their wild popularity, it’s those two. They’re fine sportsmen, gifted players, hard workers. I’m just saying that Nole deserves better than cheers every time he misses an overhead or hits a double fault.
A LOT better.
well said
Well it’s not that hard, when you are playing in an era with 2 guys who have been greater than you, it’s hard to get fans when they already have tons. Also his game just is not as attractive, plus some people think he has poor gamesmanship.
I feel bad for him about the lack of crowd support, but it’s hard to see it shifting unless he changes.
He really needs to stop the ‘giving his love to the crowd’ business when he wins, it clearly doesn’t work and is perceived as phony. As much of an idiot as Kyrgios can be, there’s at least some truth in what he says – Djokovic wants to be liked and is frustrated by the fact that the crowds rarely go for him. Like it or not, people don’t warm to desperateness. He’d be better off just playing the villain ala Medvedev.
As for the reasons why the crowds don’t like him…I think there are many. The fact that he may eclipse Fed (and Rafa) is the latest of them, perhaps the most prevalent right now. You also have people who 1) don’t like his behaviour on court, 2) don’t like him cause he’s Eastern European, 3) don’t like his style of game, 4) think he has a history of game-playing with medical timeouts, or 5) think of him as an interlocutor in the great Fedal rivalry.
Personally I’m a Fed fan, but I’ve never really had anything against Djokovic. I don’t find his game as interesting (relative to Fedal) but it certainly is impressive and I appreciate the skill. I find some of his fans on other websites rather unbearable, but that’s nothing to do with him.
Thanks for the great article. I have been very surprised over the years with the lack of crowd support for the legend, Novak Djokovic.
I personally find his counter punching style, mental toughness, fighting spirit and athleticism extremely attractive. As the article mentions he is gracious, funny, respectful and he doesn’t deserve the crowd treatment he gets.
I think something important to point out, he has had this success and grand slam count despite no crowd support, with the crowd cheering for whoever is on the other side. Imagine how frustrating that could be for someone who has achieved as much as Nole. For anyone who watched the Nadal Djokovic match in the ATP Cup 2020, you can see how important crowd support is. Nadal was visibly irritated and hampered by the fact the crowd wasn’t supporting him. Djokovic has to live with that every single match. And Nole still prevails. Testament to his greatness.
I hope at least in the last part of his career the crowd recognize what a legend he is and give him the respect and support he deserves on court. For me it will be poetic justice if ( actually when) he goes past Fed/Nadal in the grand slam count to cement himself as the greatest of all time.
Hmm… Rafa was also frustrated with the crowd at Abu Dhabi when the Greeks among them were the loudest cheering for Tsitsipas, yet Rafa still prevailed despite how well and how hard Tsitsipas played in that final.
It’s not like Rafa hadn’t dealt with loud unruly crowd cheering for his opponents – like at DC against Delpo; or the loud Bulgarian crowd when he’s playing against Dimi, or the loud Djoko supporters at Rome. He still prevailed most of the times; it’s just that at Sydney this year, Djoko was simply the better player and Rafa was frustrated not only because of the crowd, but his own inability to play better.
Rafa had played in so many DC matches, some of them were played in other countries, clearly the crowd there were supporting their home team, yet he hadn’t lost a single match since the very first singles DC match that he lost. He’s able to play and win in whatever conditions, it’s just that Djoko is a different breed unlike all the others.
I guess tennis fans just aren’t what they used to be?
Djokovic’s problem is that he lacks humility, I mean, like totally, and he craves love. Well, love isn’t something you get for the asking or for the bullying. As for outright hostility…the fanbases – including Djokovic’s – and he DOES have fans – are often downright toxic, at least online.
Nadal spent years being hated by the RG crowds, but you’d never know it by the way he acted. Toni complained once or twice, Rafa never. In 2014 Djokovic got HUGE extended applause when he went up to claim his runner up trophy. Rafa sat on his chair and applauded along with the crowd. Rafa was born knowing that you attract flies with honey, not vinegar. Medvedev knows that too, for all the bad behavior. He apologized beautifully in his runner up speech at the USO last year. Djokovic has acted badly in the past. He’s corrected the bad behavior but he’s never ever apologized for it. Apology is something he just does not do because he cannot admit to ever being wrong. Self righteousness just is not an attractive trait. Neither is arrogance.
Djokovic is loved by the French, I think the Italians like him too but do his father and his fanbase take any note of that? They do not. Their story is that everybody hates poor Nole because he’s Serbian for god’s sake. It’s JUST NOT TRUE. What’s the matter with Serbs that they’re convinced that everyone hates them? I mean, I guess there’s some history in their part of the world? But who cares? Does *anyone* blame Djokovic for starting WWI or being mean to Bosnians?
Ramara AT 3:37 AM;
The RG crowds haven’t hated Rafa. Fed worshippers (= Rafa haters) among the RG crowd booed Rafa only once – after he lost to Sod in 2009. Just Fed worshippers’propaganda machine has kept telling people that Rafa has been hated by French people. Nowadays, when a lot of people use Twitter, it’s more difficult to make people to believe fabricated stories. People can quickly refute the fabrications, fortunately.
@ Ramara I disagree with your point of view.
Djokovic has always been gracious in defeat, its a different matter that he doesn’t lose too often 😉
I don’t get where you get this lack of humility from? For the amount of success he has had, he is extremely humble and down to earth. The big 3 are generally good in that respect, we can quibble over who is ‘more humble’ but they all are respectful to each other and everyone on the tour and great ambassadors for the sport.
Yes he may have irked someone people off with how he behaved in the past, by tearing his shirt off or thumping his chest but he has reigned that side of him in, and I personally used to love those raw displays of emotion. Nothing wrong with it.
Right. He’s a paragon. That explains the hate. 🙂
Honestly, there’s something about him that puts a lot of people off. I’m one of them. Maybe it’s that neediness. I’ve tried to like him. I’ve failed. But if I were in the audience I certainly wouldn’t boo or hiss. I’d reward his great shots with polite applause.
I haven’t attended a live tennis match since 2010 when I went to Toronto to see the Big 4 play the quarterfinals. Djokovic was warming up at the court behind our seats and the nearby fans were buzzing with admiration at the length and consistency of his groundstrokes. They were ready to love him. So you tell me what went so wrong.
Well to me he is a paragon, just as to most others Nadal or Fed are.
The hate is not due to any faults Djokovic has; as the article points out fans have given affection to much worse characters who have achieved less. It is simply because by the time he came onto the scene everyone had picked a side Federer or Nadal. And he came and uprooted that beautiful oligopoly and the Fedal fans (not everyone, but on average) cant stand it.
99% of my friends like either Federer or Nadal, and they are either ambivalent about Djokovic or don’t like him because he has been increasingly dominating them and broken the happy status quo they were used to.
The problem with Djoko was that he had so called ‘spoilt’ it for himself since the very beginning when he started out in the main tour.
I mean he’s a ‘joker’ trying to be funny to please the crowd, by mimicking the behaviours of his fellow players on court. People tend not to take him seriously as a player (I’m one of those), and his MTOs and retirements from matches made people feel that way even more. He gave the impression that when he felt he was losing, he would pretend to be injured and then retired.
Hes perceived to be arrogant when he said after retiring from his FO2006 QF against Rafa, that he felt he was in control of the match! Even Fed at that time won’t say something like that against a Rafa at FO, when Fed managed to have MP against Rafa two weeks earlier at Rome final!
His sudden surge in 2011 made people questioned how come he could improve so much when he was rather underwhelming in 2010. His and his team’s behaviour/celebration after beating Rafa at Madrid and Rome were awful that pissed the Rafa fans off. His mum’s comment about Fed, saying ‘ the king is dead……’ after Djoko beat Fed certainly didn’t do anything good for him vs the Fed supporters.
And, I agree with Ramara, that Djoko behaves as if he’s not in the wrong, and rather unapologetic about his own behaviour on the court, that certainly doesn’t make the crowd love him. Medvedev was wise to apologise for his wrong doings; and the crowd more or less forgave him.
Majority of Fedal fans may dislike Djoko, not only because of him threatening Fedal’s legacy, but also because of his behaviour on court – he may be gracious in defeats but looks arrogant when he wins, especially when he feels that the crowd is against him, that may be why he’s not loved by the tennis fans when majority of them are the Fedal fans.
PS. How often Djoko looked down and out, but after MTOs he suddenly became alive again and then went on to win the match. How often Murray fell for that, when he’s having the upper hand but after Djoko’s mto, Murray simply fell apart! It’s Djoko’s timely MTOs during his matches when he’s about to lose that made some question or suspect his gamesmanship.
So what if he played the ‘joker’ and mimicked others? If anyone gets offended by that I would define them as stuck up. We need characters in tennis and everyone’s individuality is what makes the sport beautiful. Contrary to popular opinion, I think he is as good a guy as Nadal or Fed, and as I said before all three are great ambassadors of the sport.
I definitely don’t think he needs to apologize to the crowds. He has contributed so much to the game and the fans respond with complete lack of respect (especially at the US open, my view is the fans there understand tennis the least). They deserve complete contempt for behavior such as cheering on faults and booing when Djoko retired due to a real injury that he picked up earlier in the tournament.
I do agree that there seemed to be an element of gamesmanship earlier in his career and that’s the only thing that I was not in love with about his behavior but more recently there is none of that. If novice tennis fans want to hold that against the (future) GOAT, relative to everything he has achieved, and done for the game they continue to deserve contempt. And Djoko can continue winning without the crowd behind him but I get a sense that the crowd support will begin to turn too (except maybe at the US open).
I don’t see anything wrong with Djokovic at all.Im a fan,problem is I’m also a Fed and Murray one and prefer them to win.
I was also an Agassi fan but didn’t like his repeated bowing.
I was a quite big fan of Lendl and Connors.I didn’t like their personalities but wanted them to beat McEnroe who I couldn’t stand.I also like Nadal but not his game .Not much logic in my favourite player selection.
hahaha
Tbf roger did say he would be okay with novak and rafa breaking his grandslam record in one interview he did before his last year’s china exhibition match. So may be match in Africa, just because rafa was present there at that time he only said his name and question was asked about rafa not novak😅
And don’t think so bromance has anything to do with novak lol.. it’s been going well since like forever.. and at the end of the day tennis is an individual sport.. everyone does their own way.
Novak has been dominant force since about 9 years now, it’s pretty accurate and obvious that ‘fans of other two won’t like the guy constantly beating their fav’
But that doesn’t mean they hate him
Don’t now why people try to force this narrative of novak not being liked… He is well liked almost everywhere and in matches too he gets the support, not like other two.. but he does.. he is very much likable guy off the court no doubt about it.. and is good loser for sure, always gracious at the nethugs. Also you’ll definitely see more novak fans in coming years. Because of the kids watching tennis since 2010, will be older enough to give their opinion on the lifetime of tennis they have watched and clearly djoker will come out on top, because of what he has achieved in last 10 or so years
And about the records and this toxic GOAT debate , well i clearly remember 2016 , after rafa withdrew from french’16.. and novak winning all four in a row, reaching to 12 of total.. everybody were like.. he is gonna overtake rafa in a year and roger in 2-3.. but then 2017 happened😄 .. Point is ‘Djokovic breathing down their collective necks.’ since many years.. It’s not a new thing and i don’t think players or at least rafa care that much about the records.. as much as we talk about it..
he has a rabid fanbase, like all top players
he is not liked by the general tennis public
Ricky is correct. At any given tournament, unless there is a very large Serbian contingent, you can pretty much count on the fact that most of the people watching would rather he lose. I wasn’t joking about Indian Wells. They will literally cheer for ANYONE to beat him. Players they’ve never heard of. Players who barely work up enthusiasm in their home countries. THey play Djoko, suddenly they’re popular.
Agree with Ricky!
The idea that there was no love left for Djokovic because it was already all split between Rafa and Roger is a bit absurd. Try to imagine that Djokovic was older than Rafa and the first one to dethrone Federer. I am pretty sure that the love situation would be exactly the same now.
I started as a Federer fan but he was getting everything too easy and appeared to become lazy and arrogant. Rafa probably saved his career by making him trying to improve once again. Roger has this classy appearance and game style, the kind of talent that is easy to spot even by people who don’t understand tennis. He plays fast, tries to end points rapidly, doesn’t bore casual tennis spectators. Then there are people which don’t know anything really about tennis but love records – this is a large part of his fan base. And of course Federer has a stellar PR department. Perfect English, perfect family, mr. perfect indeed. There are many people who simply cheer for “the best”, and his image really counts. Other people may dislike him because he seemed to get everything too easy, especially his records in a “weak” era, or because he seems arrogant/fake to them.
Then there’s Rafa. The ultimate warrior which enjoys epic battles and seems to win by sheer will. The humble, “people’s” champion which overcomes everything that fate throws at him. The good guy which takes a broom and fights the mud in his neighboring village. Personally I like him for his large heart, his vision on tennis and life and because I find him funny and genuine off court. Being Spanish he appeals to a quite huge fanbase. He’s not that marketable, perspires too much, touches himself, is too muscular for a tennis player, so there are plenty of people which consider him a shame for tennis.
Rafa vs Roger is kind of Rolex vs dust and perspiration. Not that hard to choose. Game styles very different as well.
And then there’s Djokovic. Perfect? Far from it. Humble? Not really. Fanbase? The Balkans because people there understand and agree with his style and behavior. Game style? Least appealing to a spectator which is not a tennis expert. I like to say that he’s an accountant of tennis – efficiency is his main weapon. But probably he will never make up for his beginning in tennis – retiring when losing, histrionics on the tennis court. Mocking the greats when you’re a nobody – big mistake. And yes, I just hate to see him celebrating like a mad man, I find it ‘cringeworthy’. To many it looks like he tries to pose as a good guy, but he isn’t.
So I don’t really see why people would root for Novak. The most efficient tennis maybe, but this does not appeal to most. Maybe not such a bad guy, but the other two, let’s face it, are better. He may as well end up with the most GSs and may collect some record loving fans on the way (like Connors did), but the truth is that overall Roger and Rafa are bigger than him, and always will be.
Cristian P. MARCH 1, 2020 AT 12:02 PM;
English is Fed’s MOTHER language. His mother has spoken to him in English since he was a baby.
I don’t think it has a thing to do with the fact that there isn’t enough love left for Djokovic. There are lots of “other” players people manage to like in addition to Federer and Nadal. Thiem, Schwartzman, Tsitsipas and even Medvedev spring to mind. The difference is that none of them is a threat to the Fedal legacy. Djokovic is.
And I can think of plenty of reasons why someone might like Djokovic. He is a superb athlete, flexible, absurdly accurate, willing to take risks when the stakes are high. He might be the most mentally tough player I’ve ever watched. He had no business winning Wimbledon last year. Federer outplayed him for the entire final. But guess who lifted the trophy? By sheer force of will. Damned impressive. And reason enough for a cadre of casual fans. But he just doesn’t have them.
Sorry Cheryl, it seems to me that you’re trying hard to push your idea that Fedal fans don’t like Djoko because he’s threatening Fedal’s legacy.
But, even if Djoko is not threatening Fedal, maybe just winning three slams like Stan or Murray, I’m sure that I won’t like him, because I simply couldn’t stand his behaviour on court, esp his gamesmanship when he’s about to lose his matches (specifically against Murray!). I do believe that had it not for his gamesmanship, Murray could have won some of those important matches (esp in slam finals) and Murray may be having more slam titles by now!
Murray may be a foul mouth on court, but at least he’s not an arrogant guy, and he plays fair. I prefer Murray to Djoko, even though sometimes I wished he would lose to Rafa (at Rotterdam in 2009 and USO2008 SF).
Lendl was certainly unloved.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1986-06-30-8602080629-story,amp.html
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-25-sp-12887-story.html%3f_amp=true
Augusta is right. It’s Fedfans that cheer against Djokovic primarily. You see the same with them cheering for Rafa’s opponents (just not to the same degree).
It’s much more than cheering the underdog. You will never see fans cheering a federer double fault or unforced error but I’ve seen it done to Nole (mostly by far) and even Rafa as well.
This is a fedfan(atic) “religious experience” problem primarily.
Cases in point:
Crowd cheering for Kyrgios, Dustin Brown and Muller vs Rafa at Wimbledon and Soderling vs Rafa at French Open. Aussie crowd booed Rafa in the final vs Wawrinka when Rafa took an injury time out prior to retiring.
No one was cheering for Millman vs Federer at USO/AO or booing Federer when he takes a MTO.
Federer cult-like fandom in crowds has need by far the primary source of crude disrespectful behaviour at tournaments.
Uh, Rafa did get booed by the Aussie crowd when he played the final injured v Wawrinka in 2014 but he did NOT retire. It was a slam final and Rafa would never retire if he could stand, hold a racquet and hobble a bit. Respect for his sport, respect for his opponent. You will NEVER see Rafa lacking in either.
Ramara, thanks for that correction.
Even more ridiculous that the Fedfans in the AO crowd treated a champion like Rafa that way for an MTO.
Perhaps its simply because injury is much more common with Rafa than Fed due to the way he plays .
Injury is much more common for virtually everyone than Federer. Too bad everyone can’t play like Fed.
Rafa’s injuries get more ink than most but he is by no means the most injured, just the most visible, the one who stays in the Top 10 no matter what.
Want to blame Andy Murray for his problems? JMDP for his? How about Gael Monfils? Tsonga? Gasquet? Cilic? Raonic? Isner? All players good enough when fit and healthy to be in the top 10 but they seldom are.
yep
Id say the Fedfans cheer for Djoko when he’s playing Nadal . I know I do, but also like to see Djoko do well even at Feds expense. I also find his game as watchable as anyones and have to admire his amazing mental strength on big points.
Somewhat ironically Fed prefers Nadal.
These are all reasons why a tennis expert would like Djokovic. Tennis is a spectator sport and it’s not athletics or gymnastics. People like to see spectacular winners and not Djokovic outmaneuvering his opponents. Also people don’t like him winning tournaments he shouldn’t have had, not that it’s Novak’s fault.
Novak is simply not as likable to tennis spectators (not experts!) overall. Him beating the most likable players makes him the main antagonist so people just want him to lose as early as possible and would cheer for anyone against him.
I think that’s a valid point made by multiple commentators that Djokovic is not as appealing to a novice fan because his game is so technical and when he’s on, he is like a machine. That being said, the way he slides into his backhand and yet gets that unmatched power and control is a thing of beauty.
But the hate and the booing has to be explained by the gradual domination of the old guard.
I hope over time as the younger generation begins to admire the genius he is, he will get more crowd support from the masses.
That’s the same argument as to why people found Sampras boring.
And Lendl who was the King of Boring.
Lendl and Sampras were indeed both boring, but I remember that Sampras was generally well-supported with fans. Lendl wasn’t popular, but people seemed to be more ambivalent about him rather than actively disliking him.
Of course, I was a kid when Lendl was at his peak, so maybe I just didn’t pay attention as well as I did with Sampras.
Cheryl, I am German and was a young kid when I became a tennis fan. And I paid a lot of attention as far as Ivan Lendl was concerned, since he was one of the main antagonists of Becker. When Sampras entered the scene with a bang Lendl’s career was more or less finished.
Lendl wasn’t just disliked while he was still active – he was hated, and there were many negative stories about his private life around at the time – for example that he kept a pack of vicious dogs on his property in order to chase unwanted people away. Or that he was a cradle robber because his girlfriend/fiancee was a minor when they started dating (they are still happily married btw). Lendl was called “Ivan The Terrible” back then. And this wasn’t just coming from tennis fans – the players gleefully spread these narratives as well. All this changed some decades later when Lendl helped Murray to win the one slam trophy which had always eluded Lendl as an active player. It felt good to see him winning two Wimby trophies as Murray’s coach. There are rumors that he even smiled for a second or two😉
As to the Djoker: I appreciate that you call out those rude and extremely unfair spectators who cheer for every mistake and double fault of Novak. This is just not right and absolutely deplorable! But I think the explanation that Novak is disliked by so many fans just because he developed into a serious threat for many records of Fedal, is far too easy. Novak was already disliked by many tennis fans well before 2011, when he suddenly went into overdrive. I also don’t believe the average tennis fans are so narrow minded that they have no room in their hearts for another GOAT contender. But there’s something about the Djoker which is just not very appealing for many tennis fans. And while Novak should be well respected because of his often brilliant and super successful brand of tennis, fans cannot be forced to love him and the way he plays. And those who don’t like him very much, have no reason to apologize, since this has everything to do with personal preferences. I think that Djokovic would be far better off if he gave up on chasing the forever elusive fan love and adoration. He should concentrate on winning since that’s what he can do best😉 And who knows? Maybe he will be far more appreciated when his active career is over. He will always be a part of the GOAT trio and his opinions will be very valuable for the next generations of players and fans!
Lendl became more popular at Wimbledon because he’d worked really hard on his game but never won it.
This is another exquisite article by cheryl. A great topic to debate for sure. For me, I respectfully completely disagree with everything in the article claiming that it is unfair that djokovic is not liked by the general public and deserves better.
It has nothing to do with him overtaking fedal and spoiling the fedal domination. Rafa spoiled the fed domination yet he is not hated even remotely
close to djoko. Infact he’s almost as loved as fed even though he ruined fed’s domination. The people that absolutely detest rafa with a passion is the roland garros crowd and people that CONSISTENTLY refuse to acknowledge that and blame it on fed fans are not facing facts, it’s as simple as that. The roland garros crowd hate him bc of his domination at the french and yet rafa has never complained and has handled it with grace (unlike djoko), another reason why people love rafa.
The problem with djokovic is his character. He may end up being the GOAT and his tennis may end up being even more attractive and effortless and majestic than federer’s but the dislike towards him will unfortunately remain. It’s his character that’s the problem. The constant mto’s which he uses conveniently everytime he is losing and then comes back playing excellently and wins-murray was the endless victim of this at his hands, the mimicking of opponents in the past, his treatment of roddick at the us open (people never forget that), his subtle arrogance (saying he’s humble is quite a stretch, if he’s humble then kygrios is the epitome of humility by that logic) which can be seen in that he never apologizes for anything still to this day.
In addition, his atrocious celebration infront of the hotel against nadal after beating him at madrid. Many people never forgot that incredibly insulting behaviour. You can say he has changed since then but I don’t see any such change at all, period. The only change is that he has become a much better tennis player, phenomenal even, but that character and attitude still remains even though it seems he’s hiding it rather well but people are not fooled, those traits are still richly there.
I don’t hate djokovic and would never boo him or applaud his double faults and would rather people stop doing that. Plus there are some players that djokovic will play against that I will be rooting for djokovic 100% eg kyrgrios.
The sum total of it all is that djokovic believes he’s a much better player than fed and rafa and everyone else. He recently implied after winning the australian open that by the end of next year that he will have eclipsed fed and rafa in slams and then he can concentrate on his kids and spending more time with them. That says it all. Sometimes it’s subtle but he does believe he’s the best tennis player ever and people can see that arrogance from a mile away no matter how he tries to hide it in the name of (false) humility.
He does not deserve the LEVEL of hate he’s getting but he’s not innocent either and in my humble opinion he does deserve some of it and I dont feel sorry for him, after all he wins everything inspite of it.
In the oscars, you are awarded best actor/actress for giving an amazing performance in film. This level of dislike that djoko is getting is the oscar that he has been awarded by the general public for the dazzling performance of his attitude, character, mto’s and arrogance to name but a few and it is well deserved. Until he becomes truly apologetic and REALLY changes that attitude, He’ll keep winning it every year and rightfully so regardless of if/when he becomes the GOAT.
Happy MARCH 2, 2020 AT 7:03 AM,
Would you please give an example of “The roland garros crowd hate him” (from reliable sources). Let me remind you that in 2005, the RG crowd was annoyed with the chair umpire (who refused to Grosjean’s request to check a ball mark), the crowd wasn’t angry at Rafa.
ESPN, May 29, 2005: “The same fans packing the showcase Philippe Chatrier court then halted the match between Spain’s Rafael Nadal and French number one Sebastien Grosjean over a controversial line call….The fans were annoyed with Argentine umpire Damian Steiner who refused Grosjean’s request to check a ball mark on the red clay during the last point of that game.”
https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/french05/news/story?id=2071328
rafa definitely doesnt get the love he deserves at the French
AVN, read again, I said people didn’t take him seriously because he seemed a joker. His MTOs and retirements didnt help matters as well.
You like what he did that’s all your choice, but many people didn’t like that, and you couldn’t deny he’s not that likeable even you couldn’t accept that! The fan supports speak for that.
I even feel that had he not had those gamesmanship during his early days, and just concentrated on improving his tennis skills, he could have garnered a bigger fan base than what he is having now, regardless of whether he threatens Fedal legacy or not. His behaviour after he first got the better of Rafa and Fed in 2011 didn’t help, and alienated tennis fans, even those more neutral Fedal fans.
Sure, my take is these novice fans don’t understand the game, especially the US open fans. A democracy usually doesn’t make good decisions 🙂
Of course, Djokovic isn’t perfect, no one is. Neither are Fed and Nadal. Most importantly all three have given us a great era of tennis that will likely never be matched.
At the end of the day, Nole is a genius and he is going to surpass Fed and Nadal with or without the support of the masses.
Must be nice to know the future. Or maybe not…
Well, I should have said *most likely going to surpass Fed and Nadal. I am a betting man and that’s definitely where my money would be.
Nobody should presume to think they know what will happen. Wanting someone to
surpass Fed and Rafa is NOT the same thing as saying it will happen.
There are no psychics here the last time I checked.
The Slam count is proving that theres very little between them .They are all GOATS in their own way, Nadal on clay, Fed on grass and Djoko on hard court.
For once, we agree. 🙂 I’ll add that, for now, Roger Federer is the greatest 35+ player ever. (Qualifying the statement since I haven’t seen the two other candidates at 35+ yet.)
I’ve only just read this, as a distraction. I have never understood the dislike for Djokovic. To me, he is the most gracious loser of the big three. I’m sure there must be some exceptions, but I’m hard pressed to think of them. He has also been, imo, the fiercest competitor of the three for over a decade now. And that’s saying a lot. Basically, he gives his all on the court and seems to have a lot of perspective off of it.
Why don’t people like him as much? Unfortunately, I think a good part of it is simply that he’s Serbian. I can’t think of a single eastern European/Russian male player who was popular. Maybe some of it is disgruntled Fed/Rafa fans, (more the former, to be honest). And obviously some of his behavior won’t sit well with some, such as his OTT celebrations. But a lot of it is just racism and xenaphobia, imo.
I have to say, compared to the players of yesteryear, even the worst of the present lot doesn’t look too bad. Even Kyrgios seems to have some good qualities from a personal standpoint, although these rarely manifest themselves on the court. Connors and McEnroe, by contrast, were irredeemable jerks as far as I could tell. Djkovic, along with Fed and Rafa, seems basically to be a good guy. He definitely deserves better from the fans.