There is no doubt that world No.1 Novak Djokovic is one of the most recognizable tennis players in the world, however his popularity among fans is slightly more complex.
With 16 grand slam titles to his name, the Serbian has admitted that he isn’t the crowd favourite when taking on arch rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The best example took place earlier this year at Wimbledon in the final. The pro-Federer crowd cheered their man on as Djokovic battled hard to weather the storm. Saving two match points en route to the win. Meanwhile, at the US Open he was booed off the court after being forced to retire in the third set of his fourth round match against Stan Wawrinka due to injury. An incident that few would imagine happen to his two rivals if they were in a similar situation.
Whilst Djokovic has said incidents like these makes him mentally stronger, how does his family deal with it? His mother Dijana shed some light on the situation during an interview with GQ magazine. Saying there are both positives and negatives to take.
“I don’t know. He’s so nice, he’s polite, he works so hard. But people don’t appreciate it because he is playing tennis in the era of Federer and Nadal.” She said.
“When he was number three, it was okay, these guys are number one and two but when he became number one, probably they could not stand it. I don’t know.’
“I also suffer. They respect his success and what he is doing. But if you put Federer against him they will cheer for Federer. In another way that gives him more strength, more power to beat him.”
In their head-to-head, world No.1 narrowly leads both of his rivals. Against Federer he is 26-22 and is 28-26 against Nadal. He has defeated both of them in grand slam finals this season.
“He (Djokovic) is working on himself and preparing for every match, especially when playing Nadal or Federer. It’s a special moment to play against them. He told me he knows it’s going to be [difficult]. It is not the first time everyone is cheering for Federer. He uses the energy of the crowd and thinks they are cheering for Novak.”
The 32-year-old have achieved a series of accolades throughout his career. He remains the only player in history to have earned more than $130 million in prize money, became the oldest year-end No.1 player in 2018 and has spent 271 weeks as world No.1.
There is one milestone Djokovic is chasing after – Federer’s all-time grand slam record. The Swiss maestro currently has 20 majors under his belt, which is one more than Nadal. However, Djokovic is the youngest of the trio. As to whether he will break the record, his mother thinks it is highly likely.
“I think he will. I think it is on his mind. His goal is to be the best in the world. So if he wants that, he must win more slams.” She stated.
“I just wish he is healthy. If he is healthy I can bet, I am sure, I believe he will do that.”
Djokovic will return to the tour later this month at the Paris Masters, where he is the defending champion. It will be his penultimate ATP tournament ahead of the season-ending ATP Finals. Following that, he will travel to Madrid and play in the newly formatted Davis Cup finals.
