Hated by some and adored by others, Novak Djokovic is not unanimous, that’s for sure. And this unpopularity of the Serbian is not recent. While fan favorites Roger Federer et Rafael Nadal dominated the circuit when he arrived, Djokovic has come to shake up this hierarchy since the beginning of the 2010s, to the great disappointment of fans of the Swiss and the Spaniard. Also criticized by many for his on-court behavior, Absent is a divisive player. During the podcast “Do It Yourself Generation” of Matthew Stefani, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga attempted to explain this complicated relationship between Djokovic and the public.
Video – Guy Forget on Nadal and Djokovic at the microphone of Tennis Actu
“He wanted to be Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal”
“I think he had a period where he didn’t want to be himself. He wanted to be Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, when perhaps he should have remained himself from the start. I think today he is himself. And even though it’s divisive, I think that’s why it’s appreciated by a lot of people. Because now he’s completely honest. He doesn’t do things to be liked. He does things because he considers that they deserve to be done that way. We gain a lot from being ourselves. He wanted to get away from this warrior image that he has, because he is a Serb, who experienced difficult things in his childhood. So really, he’s a warrior! And he would have had to assume that from the start, and I think he would have been even more appreciated, that he would have been loved for that, like the gladiators.“
2023-12-22 17:05:48
#ATP #Tsonga #Djokovic #remained #start
