Djokovic playing better when the crowd is against him is a myth

[Standaa]

What is this theory based on?

The crowd support was at worst 50/50 in the RG 21 SF third set and Djokovic played a great set of tennis + went on about how amazing the atmosphere was after the match.

Djokovic loves to have the crowd support. we've seen many times that the crowd dislike can get to him mentally and gets him distracted. on the other hand, on the rare occasions where he has the support, he tries to give his absolute best.

at the end of the day, having a crowd behind your back is a bigger motivator to perform better than having everyone rooting against you. which makes sense. that only makes his wins more impressive, because it takes some mental strength to try to win even if no one wants you to win.

sure, he learned to play against the crowd eventually because he had to, but it's a myth he plays better that way. dare I say he might even play better if he had Federer's support.

 

[Russeljones]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

 

[Standaa]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

that's right, that's why I don't get why the theory is almost a consensus not just on ttw, but in a lot of other places as well. I'd go with common sense and say that theory is BS, especially since we KNOW Djokovic wants to be supported and loved. he doesn't "feast" on crowd dislike, he just had no other choice than to go with it.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

ATP Cup

 

[UnforcedTerror]

I think at the beginning he struggled with it and it showed in Wimbledon 2013 for example but as you mentioned with time he learned how to play thorough it. He would definitely play better with crowd support, go rewatch his singles and doubles matches in the ATP Cup final. He was sublime. Ridiculous level of play.

 

[weakera]

I think at the beginning he struggled with it and it showed in Wimbledon 2013 for example but as you mentioned with time he learned how to play thorough it. He would definitely play better with crowd support, go rewatch his singles and doubles matches in the ATP Cup final. He was sublime. Ridiculous level of play.

 

[jm1980]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

Myth. He used to get pretty good crowd support in China. Decent support in Rome, too.

 

[UnforcedTerror]

Everybody plays better with crowd support. Have you ever heard of the home advantage?

 

[Standaa]

Everybody plays better with crowd support. Have you ever heard of the home advantage?

not everyone, the crowd support can make some players nervous. but it's definitely the case with Novak.

 

[jm1980]

What is this theory based on?

The crowd support was at worst 50/50 in the RG 21 SF third set and Djokovic played a great set of tennis + went on about how amazing the atmosphere was after the match.

Djokovic loves to have the crowd support. we've seen many times that the crowd dislike can get to him mentally and gets him distracted. on the other hand, on the rare occasions where he has the support, he tries to give his absolute best.

at the end of the day, having a crowd behind your back is a bigger motivator to perform better than having everyone rooting against you. which makes sense. that only makes his wins more impressive, because it takes some mental strength to try to win even if no one wants you to win.

sure, he learned to play against the crowd eventually because he had to, but it's a myth he plays better that way. dare I say he might even play better if he had Federer's support.

Djokovic would certainly prefer if the crowd rooted for him, but he's made the best out of a bad situation. He manages to channel the negative energy really well. I think he is at his worst when the crowd is disengaged

 

[Jai]

I don't care so long as he plays well and gets the job done frankly the crowd can cheer for whomsoever they want. They should remain within acceptable bounds and not disturb the flow of play with taunts and jeers like they unfortunately do in several Novak matches. Other than that, I'm more bothered about the game.

 

[Jokervich]

If crowd was on his side in Wimbledon 2019 final, that match would never have gone to 5 sets. Worst case would be Djokovic wins that match in 4. Federer would have retired by now if crowds weren't on his side.

This is true in other sports too. Testosterone levels are lower when a team plays away from home compared to at home. Having the crowd on your side and people liking you does make a difference. As much as people love to say "stop caring what others think of you", studies show that it's better for your mental health and hormone levels to have people on your side than against you.

 

[King No1e]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

RG/MC/Rome vs anyone not named Fed, parts of USO10/13 finals vs Rafa, of course any Asian Swing matches. RG18 vs Cecchinato is one of my favorites just for the football stadium atmosphere.

I totally agree with OP, Djokovic relies on the crowd way more than Fed or Rafa do. He's slowly learned how to tune them out and focus 100% on his own play, after all those matches with Federer where he had no other choice.

 

[King No1e]

If crowd was on his side in Wimbledon 2019 final, that match would never have gone to 5 sets. Worst case would be Djokovic wins that match in 4. Federer would have retired by now if crowds weren't on his side.

Myth. Federer was never one to care about crowd support in his matches. Check out some of his old matches vs Agassi. It was about as one-sided as W19/USO15, but Fed just didn't give a phuck.

 

[Milehigh5280]

The problem with tackling this hypothesis is that we simply do not have enough examples of the crowd not being against him. Other than Davis Cup matches, what other occasions are there?

2016 French Open final

 

[Jokervich]

Myth. Federer was never one to care about crowd support in his matches. Check out some of his old matches vs Agassi. It was about as one-sided as W19/USO15, but Fed just didn't give a phuck.

The crowd was against him there, you're right, but that was really early in his career when he was at his peak. These days, he wouldn't be able to cope if the crowd was against him. He needs all the help he can get from the crowd these days to win matches.

 

[socallefty]

If the crowds supported Novak like they‘ve supported Federer, he would have made a mockery of the sport and won 25 or more Slams by now. The quality of his game when he is in top form and mentally stable is that much better than all his opponents.

I agree that he gets distracted occasionally when the crowd is against him in matches where he feels they should support him against lower ranked players in tournaments that he has won many times. This is why he got so upset even last week when he played Kudla at Wimbledon. When he plays Federer or Nadal, he expects the crowd to be against him and doesn’t seem as affected as he is mentally prepared for it.

 

[TheAssassin]

I'd say it's just an exaggeration of the fact that he deals with the hostility without problems. It's rarely going to make an impact.

 

[-NN-]

Careful guys, otherwise you'll turn Djokovic into even more of a moral victor than Nadal. Something I scarcely thought was possible.

I think at times it's hurt him and at times it's fuelled him.

 

[King No1e]

If the crowds supported Novak like they‘ve supported Federer, he would have made a mockery of the sport and won 25 or more Slams by now. The quality of his game when he is in top form and mentally stable is that much better than all his opponents.

I agree that he gets distracted occasionally when the crowd is against him in matches where he feels they should support him against lower ranked players in tournaments that he has won many times. This is why he got so upset even last week when he played Kudla at Wimbledon. When he plays Federer or Nadal, he expects the crowd to be against him and doesn’t seem as affected as he is mentally prepared for it.

Against Rafa it's not always the same story as vs Fed. Djokodal matches usually have fairly neutral crowds, sometimes they get behind each player at different points in the match (USO13 for example)

 

[Kralingen]

Belgrade this year was actually an interesting counterpoint in the case study. Djokovic lost to Karatsev the first time then smashed his racket and dropped a set to the world #160, and this was with a full house cheering him on.

It’s clear that the crowd support or lack thereof does not really affect his on-court actions that much. He wouldn’t have 3 Wimbledon victories against the most partisan crowds ever if it was really that big of a deal.

That being said, he is easily the most rooted against player of all time, and has won against some of the rudest and most partisan crowds in tennis history. We will never know if Federer/Nadal could do this or not. Honestly, I suspect not. We’ll never know tho.

 

[Jonesy]

It doesn't matter, he plays better than everybody the majority of the time.

 

[Russeljones]

that's right, that's why I don't get why the theory is almost a consensus not just on ttw, but in a lot of other places as well. I'd go with common sense and say that theory is BS, especially since we KNOW Djokovic wants to be supported and loved. he doesn't "feast" on crowd dislike, he just had no other choice than to go with it.

Is that avatar AOE DE?

 

[Standaa]

Is that avatar AOE DE?

no the original AOE 2

 

[Deleted member 771911]

I've read players saying that they are able to focus so much they don't really pay attention to the crowd.

 

[ND-13]

I think crowd booing or heckling him irritates no end. He is able to handle it these days if it is a match against Fedal.

If the heckling is during a match against random opponent, especially some early rounders, he knows those are crowds who dont care about him and that irks him no end.

 

[jm1980]

I think crowd booing or heckling him irritates no end. He is able to handle it these days if it is a match against Fedal.

I have no idea why you're lumping Fed in with Nadal. There's absolutely no comparison between these two.

When Djokovic plays Federer, it's very obvious who the crowd is supporting. With Nadal the crowd may lean towards Rafa, but nothing too excessive.

All the worst crowds I remember against Djokovic were pro-Federer crowds, or Djokovic playing against a local. I can't even think of a time when support for Nadal bothered me in a Djokodal match

 

[SonnyT]

This is true in other sports too. Testosterone levels are lower when a team plays away from home compared to at home. Having the crowd on your side and people liking you does make a difference. As much as people love to say "stop caring what others think of you", studies show that it's better for your mental health and hormone levels to have people on your side than against you.

That's generally true, but not always. I'm sure there's a minority of athletes who perform better in front of a hostile audience. In the NBA, it's generally believed that the superstars don't let the crowd affect their performance. But the secondary players, and the ones coming off the bench, are affected adversely by a hostile environment.

Djokovic enjoys friendly reception from the Chinese crowds, and he's been very successful in Beijing and Shanghai. So I'd characterize him as not letting the crowd adversely affect his performance, in other less friendly situations.

Studies have shown over and over again that, umpires and referees, in all sports, make more calls favorable to the home team, or in effect, let the crowd affect their calls in imperceptible ways. It's a great for Djokovic that there's a challenge system, or else in critical junctures, he'd be short-changed by wrong calls more often than his opponents.

 

[nov]

If you understand mentality of champions, you wont claim these statements. I dont think any crowd can make Djokovic play worse. But im pretty sure sometimes when hes not fully accumulated to the match, he needs crowd to be against him, so he can fire up.

 

[Gary Duane]

Everybody plays better with crowd support. Have you ever heard of the home advantage?

Just remember that "home advantage" can also be about a home court or home stadium, meaning playing under conditions you know well and the opposition does not. It's often way more than crowd support.

 

[InsideOut900]

I have no idea why you're lumping Fed in with Nadal. There's absolutely no comparison between these two.

When Djokovic plays Federer, it's very obvious who the crowd is supporting. With Nadal the crowd may lean towards Rafa, but nothing too excessive.

All the worst crowds I remember against Djokovic were pro-Federer crowds, or Djokovic playing against a local. I can't even think of a time when support for Nadal bothered me in a Djokodal match

Yeap, probably the most support I recall Nadal getting in a Slam match between them was in the USO 11 final and even that wasn't over the top.
They just preffered Nadal, plus they wanted the match to go longer.

With Federer is different, the crowd can get really obnoxious, starts cheering doubles and easy errors.

 

[D.Nalby12]

Not sure he plays better. But he is mentally strong enough to win matches that he should've lost (like W19) when 99℅ crowd is against him.

 

[Nole_The_Champion]

Novak is the most resilient tennis player ever.

No one could handle the crowd's animosity like him and win.

 

[FHtennisman]

Against Fed, it seems like the crowd being against him makes him go up a notch or two in level, particularly when the match seems to be turning against him, something that he perhaps would not have if it was vice-versa.

 

[gadge]

Novak does play well when the crowd is with him (2021 AO,RG, 2020 ATP cup), he plays a bit bad but still wins if the crowd is against him (2020 AO, 2019 WB). In short he always wins. Through the course of his career he has learned how to deal with lack of crowd support.

 

[Blahovic]

I think Djokovic has learnt to cope with the crowd being against him, but it does get to him still. It used to get to him much more though and cost him at times.

Look at US Open 2008, Roland Garros 2011 and Wimbledon 2012/2013. US Open 2008 and Wimbledon 2013 in particular, he was really subdued in those 2 matches. Crowd definitely got to him.

He definitely responds well to support. I don't think I've ever seen him play a bad match in front of a supportive crowd unless he was injured. Davis Cup, ATP Cup, Rome, RG 2016, AO when the crowd is Serb-dominated, the Asian swing -- a lot of these tournaments are where he's most successful.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

I think Nole gets support from now on. I think people want a Fedovic final.

 

[vex]

What is this theory based on?

The crowd support was at worst 50/50 in the RG 21 SF third set and Djokovic played a great set of tennis + went on about how amazing the atmosphere was after the match.

Djokovic loves to have the crowd support. we've seen many times that the crowd dislike can get to him mentally and gets him distracted. on the other hand, on the rare occasions where he has the support, he tries to give his absolute best.

at the end of the day, having a crowd behind your back is a bigger motivator to perform better than having everyone rooting against you. which makes sense. that only makes his wins more impressive, because it takes some mental strength to try to win even if no one wants you to win.

sure, he learned to play against the crowd eventually because he had to, but it's a myth he plays better that way. dare I say he might even play better if he had Federer's support.

Passive Djokovic lost RG’15 costing him the CYGS

Angry Djokovic has won countless huge matches

 

[BeatlesFan]

Not sure he plays better. But he is mentally strong enough to win matches that he should've lost (like W19) when 99℅ crowd is against him.

The USO crowds when he plays Fed were the possibly the worst and most hate-filled ever. 2010, 2011 and 2015 had crowds 99.999% despising and booing him, yet he managed to win all three matches.

So when he plays Roger, he definitely plays better when the crowd loathes him.

 

[weakera]

 

[Backspin1183]

There were a few vocal Novak supporters too. But I can understand him feeling 99.99% of the crowd was against him. All he heard was "RAFA! RAFA! RAFA!"

 

[weakera]

There were a few vocal Novak supporters too. But I can understand him feeling 99.99% of the crowd was against him. All he heard was "RAFA! RAFA! RAFA!"

He always has a few pockets of loud Serbians among the crowd. Djokovic's fanbase, while relatively small compared to Fedal, is very emotionally invested.

 

[T007]

The crowd was against him there, you're right, but that was really early in his career when he was at his peak. These days, he wouldn't be able to cope if the crowd was against him. He needs all the help he can get from the crowd these days to win matches.

Federer truly doesn't care about crowd tbh. Last years FO match vs koepfer when he was a break down in the 3rd and felt injured there was no crowd to cheer him but he broke back and won the set & then the match. So where does the motivation came from as he was playing infront of a empty stadium with a 1:00 AM Finish

 

[clayqueen]

There were a few vocal Novak supporters too. But I can understand him feeling 99.99% of the crowd was against him. All he heard was "RAFA! RAFA! RAFA!"

The French crowd were anti-Rafa in the beginning because they'd all been fed the Roger Kool aid and Rafa beat French hopefuls like Grosjean and Gasquet to win the title. That didn't stop Rafa from simply concentrating on what he had to do. The crowd have come to love Rafa because they have made up their own minds instead of believing to the BS they've been fed about Roger.

 

[pj80]

The USO crowds when he plays Fed were the possibly the worst and most hate-filled ever. 2010, 2011 and 2015 had crowds 99.999% despising and booing him, yet he managed to win all three matches.

So when he plays Roger, he definitely plays better when the crowd loathes him.

I didn't think they were 99.9% against him in 2011...they get pretty loud here when he breaks Fed

 

[I Am Finnish]

Last year the hostile USO crowd was pro Egg but he played like a mug

 

[helterskelter]

Myth. Federer was never one to care about crowd support in his matches. Check out some of his old matches vs Agassi. It was about as one-sided as W19/USO15, but Fed just didn't give a phuck.

There's a big difference, I think, between the crowd being for your opponent and against you. Of course the crowd would be supporting Agassi at the US Open against Federer when Agassi was the home player and the grizzled old veteran trying to squeeze a bit more time out and playing a dominant #1. It's nothing against Federer for them to cheer for Agassi. Djokovic should have tried to take the same attitude when he was later in the Federer position and Federer was in the Agassi one.

Some crowds have been more anti-Djokovic than pro-Djokovic's opponent and I think that is problematic.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Crowd support needs to be earned. Nole shouldn't be worried he had some crowd support pre 2011.

 

[Biotic]

That being said, he is easily the most rooted against player of all time, and has won against some of the rudest and most partisan crowds in tennis history.

The USO crowds when he plays Fed were the possibly the worst and most hate-filled ever. 2010, 2011 and 2015 had crowds 99.999% despising and booing him, yet he managed to win all three matches.

 

[Cabeza del Demonio]

Djokovic would certainly prefer if the crowd rooted for him, but he's made the best out of a bad situation. He manages to channel the negative energy really well. I think he is at his worst when the crowd is disengaged

This exactly. Djokovic has always been an entertainer at heart. It's about putting on a show, whether that means working the crowd or fighting against them. I recall Boris Becker saying something similar when he was Nole's coach.