Djokovic is too friendly with youngsters, is that good or bad for them ?

[Genie Of the Bank]

He seems to have befriended Kyrgios, Medvedev, Zverev, then Rune, Alcaraz, Sinner and now finally this guy Dino as well.

He seems to look like a big brother type figure to them, but I feel it is an act to throw them off guard. He praises them after beating them and these guys are now full of themselves, they are filled with pride, happiness that the greatest player of all time has praised them. I saw Dino throwing his racquet into the crowd just after Novak praised him and I was wondering why is this 18 year old who lost his first round match giving away his racquet? Is he now gonna give away all his racquets after every match ? Ridiculous..... it looks like Novak's validation got him to do that, he said after the match as well that getting praised by Novak means a lot for him......

IMO, this cannot be a good thing because he is still their rival and they should not forget that he is approaching his late 30s and if he is to win more then he is winning what is meant for them. I mean he had his share of his pie in his 20s, now the rations that he is having is meant for someone younger, so those guys need to remember this before cheesing up....Their parents and coaches also need to tell them to not get too friendly with Novak, little bit is ok but not too much. Whatever praises he gives is not to be taken seriously at all....

If he says he could not be friends with Federer & Nadal then how / why will he now be friends with next generation ? Thats like saying I could not date girls of my generation but suddenly next gen girls are now finding me irresistible... makes no sense at all.... So it could be an act from Novak to catch the youngsters off guard, better to be careful.

Simple, young guns go all in training with Novak thinking that they can read his game. Then usually its to late in big match play.

 

[The Blond Blur]

It’s beneficial for Joker since he’s able to get a closer look at their games and what makes them tick. You can say the younger guys can do this too, but ask yourself who’s more equipped to take advantage of that situation? Joker and his team behind him have far more resources behind them to pick apart these guys games than the other way around.

So if I’m Joker I continue to play nice to get as many advantages as possible. And if I’m the kids I stay far away as possible. The less film, stats, and scouting reports on me the better.

 

[legcramp]

The time and energy spent on making these threads.. yikes

 

[_phantom]

He seems to have befriended Kyrgios, Medvedev, Zverev, then Rune, Alcaraz, Sinner and now finally this guy Dino as well.

He seems to look like a big brother type figure to them, but I feel it is an act to throw them off guard. He praises them after beating them and these guys are now full of themselves, they are filled with pride, happiness that the greatest player of all time has praised them. I saw Dino throwing his racquet into the crowd just after Novak praised him and I was wondering why is this 18 year old who lost his first round match giving away his racquet? Is he now gonna give away all his racquets after every match ? Ridiculous..... it looks like Novak's validation got him to do that, he said after the match as well that getting praised by Novak means a lot for him......

IMO, this cannot be a good thing because he is still their rival and they should not forget that he is approaching his late 30s and if he is to win more then he is winning what is meant for them. I mean he had his share of his pie in his 20s, now the rations that he is having is meant for someone younger, so those guys need to remember this before cheesing up....Their parents and coaches also need to tell them to not get too friendly with Novak, little bit is ok but not too much. Whatever praises he gives is not to be taken seriously at all....

If he says he could not be friends with Federer & Nadal then how / why will he now be friends with next generation ? Thats like saying I could not date girls of my generation but suddenly next gen girls are now finding me irresistible... makes no sense at all.... So it could be an act from Novak to catch the youngsters off guard, better to be careful.

I don't believe those young players or their coaches trust him that much. They respect him for his on-court achievements, but that's about it.

They might hesitate to say no directly to his face because of that, but I think also due to the allure of a billion-dollar bonanza led by the PTPA. If that windfall happens, no young player would want to be left out, regardless of whether it's good for the sport or not.

To answer the OP, it's bad.

 

[heftylefty]

The time and energy spent on making these threads.. yikes

Someone's PR firm must get paid by the post.

 

[ChrisJR3264]

Not wise to get on Djokovic’s bad side

Like Ben Shelton

 

[Midaso240]

I think it's overestimated a bit how close he is to some of these guys. Zverev is probably the only guy there he's really close to

 

[DSH]

I think Kyrgios has fallen for Djokovic's trap.

Joker is the ruse king.

 

[Robert C]

Ridiculous. Bring back JohnMc Connors and Lendl fierce rivalry. I don’t want to see players hugging each other and applauding.

Yeah better not to have people in the world get on at all right? Good to be desiring conflict in general.

 

[nolefam_2024]

How does it matter if he is friendly with them?
All of them are professionals. If they get punked out by a skinny little man, its on them. As long as they have their own coaches, they can figure out Djokovic. In fact, they have a head start of maybe 15 years since Djokovic has been around for so long. If they are losing, its not just because of his strategies, but because he is still able to hit accurate serves, insane returns and is able to slide and turn defense into attack. Even at 36.

 

[nolefam_2024]

If OP can add an option for most of the polls saying none of the above, I think most of the votes will go to this option.

Impossible choices.

 

[4-string]

Too friendly my ass, he's just desperately trying to be liked.

 

[nolefam_2024]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1747663242342916246

 

[Bambooman]

A man with 24 Grand Slams said this. He is not friends with Federer and Nadal for a reason.

Because they were offended by him crashing their party.

None of the next gen have done more than peek in the room at this point so there's no reason for him to go Fedal on them.

 

[Bambooman]

Rather odd thread title. I thought that this was going to be a thread about suspicions of Novak molesting 12 year old ball boys & ball girls.

Or killing them en masse when he went out with covid.

 

[a10best]

He seems to have befriended Kyrgios, Medvedev, Zverev, then Rune, Alcaraz, Sinner and now finally this guy Dino as well.

He seems to look like a big brother type figure to them, but I feel it is an act to throw them off guard. He praises them after beating them and these guys are now full of themselves, they are filled with pride, happiness that the greatest player of all time has praised them.

always keep your enemies or rivals close to you to not give them the extra energy to beat you. Some matches are decided by on one or two crucial points. Interestingly, I hear him and Roger have become friendlier once pretty shot Roger retired.