“I Don’t Like Those Stories”- Novak Djokovic Hits Back at ‘Serbia Against the World’

A lot more has been made of Novak Djokovic and his dynamic with tennis fans than perhaps even his accomplishments. It is no mystery as to why; most times he plays Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, majority of the crowd backs his opponent. He carries on and wins majority of the times anyway.

It isn’t always Federer or Nadal who get the crowd support against Djokovic. The same was true in the final of the 2020 Australian Open against Thiem too.

So has this bias of the fans ever really affected him? Absolutely not. And as he says, he has enough fans who love him.

The man has destroyed many people’s conceived notions regarding the fundamentals of tennis. He has dismantled theories of what a player can and cannot do on the court.

Novak Djokovic is a man who has accomplished things that few others have in tennis. He came onto the scene when two giants were wrestling for the tag of the greatest player and forced his own name in the debate.

Like many others like him, Novak could have simply shrugged his shoulders and said ‘nothing I could have done.’ Yet he decided to believe in himself and tapped into his resilience and passion to carve his name in history. And he hasn’t finished yet.

But at the end of the day, all this is mere speculation. What Novak’s thoughts on the subject? We know now.

Novak Djokovic gives his take

In an expansive press conference, the Serb spoke out on the subject and gave us his thoughts.

“A lot has been written about how I am not loved. My personal impression is that I have a lot of support and sympathy for me. When I play Federer or Nadal, crowd supports them but that doesn’t mean that I’m hated and that I should turn whole of Serbian public against the world. I don’t like those stories ‘Serbia against the World.'”

Spoken like a true-blue champion.

Djokovic does not hide from anyone, or anything. He even addressed the antics he sometimes gets into on the court.

“Sometimes I get distracted, I have outbursts, is it the crowd, umpire, wind etc. I admit that and I’m not proud of that, but I’m a human being that makes mistakes, and I try to become better every day.” 

He also reiterated that he does not want to invest his time and energy into such stories, because that will only make them grow. He simply does not want that negativity around him.

As a Novak fan myself, I have cursed the crowd countless times because they support his opponent. Now I can learn from the man himself and understand that, just because they don’t cheer for him, doesn’t mean they hate him.

In recent times, I have come to realize one thing about Djokovic and his fans. He may not have the numbers like Federer and Nadal, but the fans that do support him, absolutely love him to death. They are more passionate and immersed in his career than any other fans.