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Novak Djokovic can be a tennis goat. But he is not usually loved like Nadal and Federer

bynewsdesk
July 18, 2021

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(From left) Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer Photo: Twitter

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LOkay, honestly, it’s not something people don’t see. It is a fact that I play 90% of my matches, if not more, against my opponent, but also against the stadium, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon 2021 winner, said after victory over American player Denis Kudla in the third round.

Wimbledon 2019 against Swiss Roger Federer, 2021 French Open finals against Greece Stefanos Tsitsipa and semifinals against Rafael Nadal and now Wimbledon this year. These are just some of the recent Grand Slam matches where the world number one had to win both: the player and the stadium.

How does he do it? After the 2019 Wimbledon final, Djokovic was notoriously said, “As the crowd sings Roger, I hear Novak. Sounds silly, but it’s like that. I try to convince myself that it is so.

It’s obvious that Djokovic is in the “Big Three” of tennis at the peak of his career with a shared record of 20 Grand Slam men’s singles, while Roger Federer and Spain’s Rafael Nadal are in the dark. With his current form and two of his biggest opponents absent from the Tokyo Olympics, Djokovic has a good chance of putting himself up for the ‘Golden Grand Slam’ (when a player wins all four strokes plus an Olympic gold medal in the same year) and became the only other player to achieve this achievement. , After Germanys Stefanie Graf.

But what is the reason why everyone loves to hate Novak Djokovic, who has every right to call a goat that is on the path to greatness and is just a huge, graceful pleasure to watch in court?

Also read: Regardless of our nostalgia for Federer and Nadal, the numbers are always on Djokovics ’side

Djokovic is uncertain

Anindya Dutta, author of the bookIndian interest: The story of Indian tennis, says it ‘s pretty obvious that Djokovic is putting a crowd against him and that makes him insecure. At the level at which Djokovic plays, ideally, he shouldn’t care about love. But for whatever reason, he is apparently uncertain about receiving the violence he has received both in and out of court, Dutta says.

The author adds that this uncertainty does not end with Djokovic, but also extends to his fan base, which constantly invites people who do not ‘love’ him. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Djokovic thinks he’s not loved, and puts his insecurities on his fans, and their reaction to social media annoys everyone else and eventually they support Djokovic’s opponent no matter who he opposes, Dutta adds.

Maybe there is some truth to that. Djokovic constantly points out that he doesn’t get crowd support, which often sounds unfortunate. He demands the love that the other two tennis Big Three cards (Nadal and Federer) get. He can also seemingly argue with journalists at press conferences when asked about his legal behavior.

“It works for him so far, but I think this negative feedback he’s getting from the crowd will negatively affect him in the long run,” Dutta adds.

If you go through the Facebook comments or Tweets below the pictures posted by Djokovic, you’ll find fans writing about Djokovic’s splendor over the other two and bitterly to almost all other tennis stakeholders, opponents, audiences, journalists.

Also read: Why maverick Andy Murray defined the era of exciting tennis (and competition)

Fight for love

Djokovic may have demanded as many Grand Slams as Federer and Nadal, but he hasn’t won so many hearts.

Djokovic has mentioned this himself. It’s a fact that most of the fans support Federer and Nadal against me, but due to what they represent in the world of tennis, he had said at a press conference in Serbia in 2020.

Novaks ’father Srdjan Djokovic has also talked about it.

It is true. Medal fans often gather to gather against Novak Djokovic. And stay forever bitter about this challenger who won his victory in a much shorter time.

First, Federer and Nadal absolutely dominated the Grand Slam when, in 2008, Djokovic marked his participation with a victory for the Australian Open and began to ruin the party for both.

But Nadal and Federer also have something to do with temperament and discipline. The two are great friends off the field, have been longer, and as a result Djokovic always collides with the trio far to third.

This has become even clearer over the last two years. When Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer tweeted that they would not go on tour because of the raging Covid-19 pandemic, Novak Djokovic spoke not trust vaccines and the organization of a charity tournament (Adria Cup) In the Balkans, which became the Covid hotspot.

In short, Djokovic behaved most responsibly and carelessly, while Nadal and Federer were examples.

When Nadal and Federer sat in the US Open 2020 tournament because of Covid Djokovic, not only did he go there soon after the Adria Cup break, but he ended up being disqualified when he accidentally hit the line referee with the ball. line referee with volleyball excess and threats on his Instagram account to the point that the serbian had to step in and ask them to stop.

The failure of Covid has only added more anti-Djokovic rhetoric and brought him names like ” Novax Djocovid ”. support Alexander Zvereville, accused of domestic violence, is another reason for the rise of anti-Djokovic forces. I think for a good reason.

Also read: With Djokovics winning lately, is it time to win him the tennis king over Federer & Nadal?

A smoother sail for Nolle

Djokovic has also had a much smoother sail, with which I agree. This causes great resentment among Federer and Nadal fans.

Federer dominated tennis when not only Rafael Nadal was at the top, but they also had inimitable opponents such as Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin, and of course Novak Djokovic. In the newer generation of players, no one looks promising enough to give a decent race to Djoker at the Grand Slam, not Russian Daniil Medvedev, neither Greek Stefano Tsitsipas nor Austrian Dominic Thiem.

Federer and Nadal have also been very vulnerable to injuries, and Djokovic has struck during his absence and increased his numbers rapidly.

Nadal always crossed Federer and Djokovic against each other (until Djokovic only recently took over) and has played with several serious injuries over the years, leading to many negotiating him early in his career that he should stop playing tennis and focus on golf, like Nadal describes in his autobiography Rafa.

Here are some statistics:

Tennis big three
By Soham Sen | Print

In 2008-2010, when Federer and Nadal were at their peak, they won 4 and 6 Grand Slams, while Djokovic had only one for himself.

Between 2014 and 2021, when both players were out of the tour for longer, missing a total of 11 slams, Djokovic won 14 Grand Slams for Nadal and Federers 10 in total.

While we can all love to hate Djokovic, there is no doubt that the mental strength and physical ability he shows will make him a GOAT. There is no doubt that at the end of the Great Three Ages, Djokovic will have more slams than his colleagues. The goat has just started eating grass. I hate it, but I can’t deny it.

The outlook is personal.

(Editor Prashant Dixit)

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