Novak Djokovic has never been hated. He’s been resented by Fed and Rafa fanatics who always viewed him as a threat. Djokovic had some, shall we say, imperfect moments in his career which fueled the resentment and his parents were not the most well behaved parents supporters, so these things added up to fuel Djokovic resentment in a minority faction of tennis fans. He is not perfect but his rise to the top has been absolutely extraordinary and incredible to witness. Djokovic has overcome and conquered the two greatest players of all time and raised the bar to an even higher height than Federer and Nadal. Of course that reality does not sit well with a great many fanatics and admirers of Federer and Nadal. But there is a new sheriff in town and they just have to accept it.
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Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 9:54 am
Djokovic has been dominant since 2011…
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2019 at 10:03 am
Well, I agree but 2018 and 2017 were subpar years for him. We may never know the real reason(s) why.
Harold · August 20, 2019 at 10:28 am
You can respect his greatness, his talent. I found his act phony from the start, from the Monfils match on. Finding his spot in the big whatever (3,,4,5) has been tough on him.As a Fed fan, knew he was trouble since 2010, or 11…
His slap forehands down match points, shows his full persona. Pissed that the crowd is always against him, his fearlessness is quite impressive
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2019 at 10:45 am
Harold, the crowds are not always against him, sometimes yes but he’s made major inroads into turning that dynamic around to his favor. Yes he’s ruthless, vicious on the court but to be the best you simply have to be. If he played like Gasquet he’d be top 25.
Harold · August 20, 2019 at 11:14 am
Against Fed and Nadal he rarely has the crowd in his favor..
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 11:20 am
A slump at age 27, 28 is par for course from these super champions. Federer slowed down there. Nadal had a somewhat less stellar period too. I don’t have much sympathy anymore for these super champs! They only have what, fifty plus slams among them and have executed a near shut out if all their competitors while making guys that should be champions now believe that they simply have to wait until the big three have decided to call it quits, by which time each stadium court will be named for them…
Please. Enough of the sympathy for a guy that will either be the best, second, or third best player of all time who is easily by far and indisputably the best player of 2010s, it isn’t even close.
I root for other players because I prefer the sport be healthier and that players don’t give up so easily. The dominance of the big three is not even possible to put into words anymore. I marvel at every perfect shot these guys hit.
But I was glad to see Del Potro hit through them in 2009. And Wawrinka shove them aside for a few tournaments. I was glad to see Murray break the British men’s Wimbledon tournament curse.
No sympathy from me for these best of all time players. None!!!
Hartt · August 20, 2019 at 12:31 pm
Andrew, I totally agree with you, no sympathy for those 3! 🙂
Go Kei, go Milos, even go Grigor!
Go Medvedev, go Khachanov, go Thiem!
Go FAA, go Stefanos, go Sascha!
And go all other players who work hard and have dreams!
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 1:06 pm
Hartt, I know! I will miss them when they retire. But as the masters keep giving lessons and “schooling” the next generation and all other generations (they beat up on the Agassi/Sampras group, then took out their contemporaries, then took out every generation that came after them), I hope that other players decide that now’s a good time to win their first slam.
Medvedev has shown some excellent impatience to grab a Masters, much as Zverev has previously. These guys should savor a night match against any player big or lower ranked.
If the big three win that’s fine.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 1:38 pm
Even go Grigor. Such a good player. I consider him the Baghdatis of today’s players. Hits every shot known to mankind.
Hartt · August 20, 2019 at 2:01 pm
Tipsarevic announced he will retire from tennis. He will play the USO and some ATP tourneys this fall, but his last tourney will be the Davis Cup.
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 4:18 pm
I’m convinced when fans believe more in players beyond the big three Murray and Wawrinka that they will respond. We may be the problem!
I’ve seen players raise their level through the roof as they drew motivation from crowds. Kyrgios may not be the right player but he definitely understands this dynamic. Or some of it.
Hartt · August 20, 2019 at 8:43 pm
Shapovalov just defeated Sandgren 6-2, 6-4. Shapo had periods when he was patient and hit with some margin and other times when he went for too much too soon. But especially in the first set he controlled the match. And of course he hit some beautiful BH winners, both CC and DTL that had one going “wow!”
Andrew Miller · August 20, 2019 at 9:58 pm
Sorry to see Tipsarevic retire. He was such a smart player.
jackson · August 20, 2019 at 10:51 pm
Djokovic didn’t even have the crowd for him when he was playing Medvedev last weekend. Face it Scoop – he just isn’t well liked by most.
He’s also been very lucky that unlike all of the other tennis greats, he’s never had a younger whiz coming up behind him to push and challenge him. He’s gotten a lot of points and titles pretty much handed to him because of the lack of competition in the generations just behind him.
Scoop Malinowski · August 20, 2019 at 10:58 pm
Tipsarevic is one of the best interviews in tennis and also a fine underrated top ten player. Awesome player, smart, tough fighter, not the most dynamic exciting style to watch but a very interesting character.
Jeff · August 21, 2019 at 12:59 am
I think the dip in Djoker’s off years were due to that spiritual nutcase and his marital woes from cheating on his wife. I think dumping the lunatic and fixing his marriage have fixed those woes.
I think the fact that he comes from non-traditional tennis country hurts him. Male players from Eastern Europe including Russia have never been beloved. Guys like Kafelnikov, Davydenko, Lendl, Berdych have never developed fan bases.
This is in stark contrast to females from those countries who have been fetishized and lusted after by men and developed fan bases like Halep, Ana Ivanovic, Vaidasova, the Bondarenko sisters and countless Russian beauties like Sharapova, Chakvatedze, Kirilenko, Kournikova, etc. How about the hot orange outfit Sharapova posted on IG today. It’s funny how everyone talks about equal treatment but the Eastern European men are held to a different and unfair standard but I digress…
Novak is a great player and will go down as the best in history. He is an icon in Serbia as his country’s greatest athlete as well so it really is an amazing story. Fed is more elegant and Rafa is more dominant but Novak found a style of play that is simply impossible to beat for anyone on a consistent basis and particularly in slams.
catherine · August 21, 2019 at 2:09 am
Jeff – I think the fan bases are a little different for the East Europen/Russian men and women. Nothing much to do with their tennis games. And not sure it’s much to do with ‘equal treatment’ but I don’t want to move into that area – I’m sure most people can fill in the gaps.
So I wouldn’t feel sorry for the guys – if they have smaller fan bases I’d guess those consist of true tennis fans and as players they’re not being fetishized and lusted after.(Safin was a bit of a pin-up though – same with Nastase)
I’m not sure Simona is in the same category actually – she’s not a sex bomb and is an idol in Roumania for her achievements rather than her looks.
Hartt · August 21, 2019 at 4:27 am
I was startled by the idea that Berdych does not have a fan base. He hasn’t had much success recently and it sounds like his career won’t last much longer because of injury. But at his peak he was a very popular player.
It’s always hard to know exactly why some players are more popular than others, other than someone like Federer. But even with him early in his career there was surprise that Switzerland had produced a tennis superstar.
catherine · August 21, 2019 at 6:39 am
Hartt – It’s not much of a mystery how some players develop fan bases, at least not the type Jeff is referring to. East European/ Russian girls tend to have an exotic allure which has been exploited in many ways in what you might call ‘the West’ particularly since the break-up of the USSR. Translate that to tennis and you have your answer.
I don’t imagine Jeff is expecting male players to be ‘fetishised and lusted after’ in the same way so I suspect we’re talking about different things here.
Hartt · August 21, 2019 at 7:42 am
Yes, I’m aware of fans being taken by a player’s looks and/or sex appeal. Goodness knows we’ve heard enough about players like Kournikova, Giorgi and to use an example of a Western player, Bouchard.
But I was thinking about fans who are actually interested in tennis. I think it is interesting how some players grab fans and others, equally skilled, don’t. Obviously it is very subjective, but an interesting question all the same.
Andrew Miller · August 21, 2019 at 8:48 am
No tears for Novak, sorry. He has more slams than Sampras, and plenty of fans, and less than six weeks ago out dueled a motivated Federer to win another Wimbledon title while expressing to Federer, hey your ability to push yourself at this stage of your life and your age inspires ME to get the all time slam record FROM YOU.
Yeah forget it. Another reason I cheer even the sulking and selfish Sasha Zverev to beat the big three. I’ll miss all of them and their professionalism and how they have mastered every centimeter or inch of every court in every country and city of the world. But they now win matches in the locker room with an intimidation factor that simply should not be there.
It’s as if other players have turned Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer into the House at a betting table in Vegas with a large card deck and the odds forever stacked in the big guys favor. That’s not how pro tennis has ever been and I’m hoping other players develop that unquenchable thirst for huge titles, because otherwise might as well just inscribe the trophies right now with the names of the big three.
Just etch in Big Three TBD on each trophy.