“It Hurt Me” – Despite Roger Federer’s Disrespect, Novak Djokovic Reveals Shocking Camaraderie

At a time when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were dominating men’s tennis, in came Novak Djokovic. The Serb was a thorn in the rivalry of Federer and Nadal and often received jeers from the fans during the matches against these two. Although he overcame that and went on to become the most successful player in men’s tennis, Djokovic’s support failed to outdo that of Federer and Nadal’s. Even the Swiss maestro, Federer, made some shocking revelations about Djokovic. Amid this, the Serb made a candid revelation about his camaraderie with his rivals and fans.

A few months back, Federer revealed that he didn’t give enough credit to Djokovic when they were playing against each other. Federer himself later owned up to underestimating Novak’s game. As he told Forbes, “I think I didn’t give Novak the respect he deserved because of his technical flaws. I felt like Novak had a very extreme forehand grip and his backhand for me wasn’t as fluid as it is nowadays. But then he ironed those things out super well and became an unbelievable monster of a player.”

Although the 20-time Grand Slam champion apologized later, Djokovic admitted that he was always devoid of fans’ support.

During an interview, he said, “I am a man with many flaws, of course. Nevertheless, I have always tried to live with heart and good intentions and, ultimately, to be myself. I acted and still felt like an unwanted child. I asked myself why that was. It hurt me. Then I thought the fans would accept me if I acted differently. But that wasn’t the case either.”

Further, he went on to add, “I was never as loved as Federer and Nadal because I wasn’t supposed to be there. I was the little guy, the third guy who came along and said, ‘I’m going to be number one.’ Many people didn’t like that.”

Over the course of his career, especially during the early days, Djokovic was often booed by the fans for his mechanical style of play. While fans dubbed Federer a natural talent and Rafael Nadal the King of Clay, the Serb was often snubbed by the two, although he won many titles. Nonetheless, Djokovic grew in stature and kept winning big titles.

Amid his steamy relationship with the crowd, many tennis greats have spoken about him on this subject. A few months back, American legend Jim Courier described the Serb’s bond with the fans on the court.

Novak Djokovic’s love-hate relationship with the fans

Take the example of the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic has often faced the wrath of aggressive fans there, getting booed during his matches. Nonetheless, the Serb has used that as motivation to succeed and won an astonishing 10 Grand Slam titles Down Under. During an interview, Jim Courier used this fact to explain Djokovic’s relationship with the fans.

He said, “And, you know, he’s a guy who craved it, understandably. And it’s been a little bit of an up-and-down relationship with him and the audiences. But at this stage of his career, it feels like he’s getting into and it’s overdue. It’s hard to believe it’s been since 2019 that he’s been here, and the energy is great. And it’s kind of been a constant. Him coming back to places where he hasn’t been for a while, the US Open last year, Australia.”

After bowing out of the French Open in the semifinal, Djokovic will be seen in action at the Wimbledon Championships, coming up in a few weeks. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs against in-form players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

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