Novak Djokovic is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in tennis. He alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal forms the ‘Big Three’ of the sport. However, unlike the other two, he often gets tangled in debates because of his outspoken nature. Therefore, fans have divided opinions about him. 

There is no doubt about the talent he harbors. Though, his behavior off-court sometimes draws ill attention. For example, the time when he mistook Andy Roddick’s tone and went ahead to condemn him publicly.

Novak Djokovic apologizing for being impulsive

In the 2008 US Open, after the quarter-finals match, Roddick jokingly commented that Djokovic faked 16 injuries during his fourth-round match against Tommy Robredo. In a response to that, the Serb in his courtside interview said. “I know they [the crowd] are already against me because they think I am faking everything.”

“That’s not nice to say in front of this crowd that I have 16 injuries and that I’m faking it.” He added, surrounded by a stadium full of booing people. However, later Roddick spoke in private with him and cleared the misunderstanding. 

Following that, Novak Djokovic confessed his mistake. “Unfortunately, Andy made a statement, and I don’t think it was intentional. I exaggerated, and I reacted bad in that moment. I apologise if I reacted like that. It was just impulsive, and I had a lot of emotions in the last two days.”

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The 21-time Grand Slam champion later advanced to the semi-finals. He beat Roddick 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) and booked a match with the eventual champion, Roger Federer.

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The 35-year-old, after having to sit out of almost the entire hard-court swing this year, made a comeback on clay. Though he failed to defend his title at the French Open, and with no prior practice on the warmup events, he stepped on the greens of London. 

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At Wimbledon, the former World no.1 took down the home favorite Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals and locked horns with Nick Kyrgios, a Grand Slam finals debutant. Djokovic went on to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon trophy. Thereafter, he claimed the Tel Aviv Open and recently came out victorious in the ATP 500 event based in Astana.