Tennis’ Unpopular Champion

These past few years can rightly be called the Novak Djokovic era of tennis, numerous slams, ATP 1000 wins and domination of the sport. But one thing struck me as I watched Novak Djokovic lift his 11th grand slam title and 6th Australian Open, the Serb does not have the following or respect that his other colleagues such as Nadal and Federer have. The applause from the Melbourne crowd was quite polite and muted to Djokovic victory. It seems that despite the victories many tennis fans are reluctant to embrace Djokovic as a true tennis champion.

I remember feeling a little uncomfortable at the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2015, the crowd was just so Pro Federer it was suffocating and embarassing. They cheered for every Federer point and even every Djokovic miss. It was worse than a typically partizan Davis Cup match. Djokovic is the absolute model professional, he trains hard, lives a perfect family life and is gracious and respectful on and off court.  So why they does he struggle to achieve the adulation that his other top 4 members have?

Djokovic has been on the tour for over 10 years, has travelled the world countless times in that time and played hundreds of games. His counterparts Nadal and Federer have been on a the  tour a longer period of time and taken as a whole the two have won more so far than Novak but no matter what they seem to do or say their support from tennis fans is unwielding. I have no doubt it must be annoying for Djokovic, he really is a fantastic ambassador for the sport and does not put  a foot wrong yet in every major event throughout the world he will be outnumbered in terms of fans. I wonder is it his style? Is it his oncourt behaviour? (which it must be added is mild mannered compared to some on tour) When will we the tennis public start treasuring Novak Djokovic for what he is?

It will not be a matter of winning more slams or making donations to humanitarian charities. My conclusion is as follows, Novak Djokovic will not receive true critical and fan acclaim until Mr Federer or Mr Nadal retire. Both these guys have dominated our sport and the love affair for our sport was rekindled by the magic of Rafa and Roger. There is so much love and affection for these two that any player ( Djokovic) who can routinely rout our tennis heros will never be popular. But as a memories fade slightly we will all come to appreciate the magic of Novak Djokovic. Novak if you are reading this, Well Done, Keep up the good work and someday you will feel the love of all the tennis fans!

 

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