Whateley on Djokovic's statue "Novak is not loved here. He can be admired by for his achievements, but he's not loved."

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
If only I'd known the purpose of this game was to be loved, I would've approached tennis very differently when I first picked up a racquet.
How stupid of me.
For most of us it doesn’t / shouldn’t matter but pro sports at Novak’s level is basically an elite entertainment product.

Great athletes playing in 10,000 - 30.000 seat stadiums couldn’t help but notice who they are playing for and it would be hard not to take cues from your audience like any other great performer or entertainer would.

The crowd is there for your greatest moments and I’m sure great athietes hope the crowd is going to be there to support them through their lowest or most emotional moments. I think it would have been jarring for Novak to not have the crowd with him at such a vulnerable moment in the SF, particularly at what might be (hopefully not) his last ever appearance in an Australian Open.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
Nope. Nationalism is everywhere in sports. Orwell even wrote a famous essay on it.

If you are unable to factor in the unusual nationalist component of Djokovic's fandom, that's because you willingly choose not to see it. It's a VERY different composition from the fandoms of the other legends, and it's noticeable at every Djokovic match of significance.
 

ND-13

Legend
Oh, Everyone loves him. Even those who say they hate him are closet fans and they love him dearly. The boos are more a disappointment they couldn't see their hero in action .
 

Clay lover

Legend
just let this rest lol

He's more liked than his detractors would like to portray

He's also slightly more guilty of his unpopularity among the small proportion that don't like him than some of his fans would like to portray

Neither side is gonna convince each other

Why the rehash of this for the 100th time
 
Its impossible for Djokovic to be liked by majority, because majority are Nadal/Federer fans.
And that's before you even factor in his erratic on-court behavior and his personal beliefs :alien:
 

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Kurt Angle asking crowd to chant You Suck



Kurt Angle getting angry at chant You Suck



Djokovic has flip flopped between heel and face run in span of 2 days lol between alcaraz and zverev match

He is very polarizing anti hero. He is not going to be universally loved at all. And that is fine.
I reckon most tennis fans do like him. It's the causual viewers he's not popular with, and they are usually in majority. Real tennis fans wouldn't disrespect him the way the Melbourne crowd did.
 
Duh. Everyone knows this.

Novak is the GOAT. Rafa and Fed will always be more loved.
Djokovic is the clown who wasn't good enough to beat The Kings.
Federer-Nadal 2004-2010 will always be the 2 greatest players of all-time.
You'd have to be born in 2011 to think otherwise...

And even in 2011 when Fedal were no longer in physical prime form, Federer beat Djokovic at RG and was within a point of beating Djokovic at the US Open...
And in 2012 Federer beat Djokovic in 4 sets at Wimbledon!
And then Djokovic lost 6 of 7 matches to Nadal, including 2013 Canada and US Open :giggle:
 
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vokazu

Legend
Fedal fans just want to feel good so they keep pushing negative image propaganda about Djokovic. They're one of the most bitter fans in the world.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Gerard Whateley, one of Australia's biggest sports journalist has weighed on the topic of Djokovic getting a statue at Melbourne park. He compared it with Nadal's situation in Paris:

"There’s a statue of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and it speaks to the love the Parisians have for Nadal, and that was enacted at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. It’s a Paris Games. Nadal is a Spaniard and he was featured like a hometown hero.

You walk into Roland Garros and there’s a beautiful silver statue of Nadal – because he is loved in that city.

Novak is not loved here. He can be admired for his achievements, but he’s not loved."

You can read the full article here:
https://sen.com.au/news/2025/01/28/fractious-australian-open-overshadowed-by-precious-prima-donnas

What do you guys think?
He ate with this one :D
 

RoddickAce

Hall of Fame
Tbh it's amazing how Rafa won the FO crowd over the years.

From being labelled as a "topspin monkey", and the FO crowd cheering against him for many years (simply because they liked Fed's flair and "elegant" style more) to eventually...they loved him so much that they built him a statue.
 

Incognito

Legend
Djokovic and his fans have to be the most insecure desperate heels in all of sports. Most fans of disliked athletes can admit that their guy is hated and that they like them for that but Djokovic fans are the only one that bend themselves into pretzels to blame the hate on anything else other than the fact that their man is and has always been a complete knob.
Like their hero, The victim mentality. :rolleyes:

Sure, he’s won the most, we’re not denying that. But why do we have to like him? I didn’t like him the first time I saw Marat Safin slaughter him at AO in 2005.

I couldn’t care less if you don’t like Federer or Nadal. Why should I care? I’m not getting paid to promote them.
 

Tensky1

New User
Federer and Nadal fans crying in this thread over popularity. Don’t worry guys, that’s the only thing your two faves have going for them. 0 records between the two of them
 

Incognito

Legend
If you are unable to factor in the unusual nationalist component of Djokovic's fandom, that's because you willingly choose not to see it. It's a VERY different composition from the fandoms of the other legends, and it's noticeable at every Djokovic match of significance.

yes, sometimes it’s like a political rally with Novak’s Serbian fans with the flag waving and the yelling etc. It’s fine when it’s Davis cup. Same with the Greek flags when Baghdatis was playing.

I love discussing vocal pedagogy more than discussing tennis. in our community their are some fans bringing nationality in discussions about vocal techniques, imagine that:D you don’t like my idol because because he/she is Asian or Eastern European :sick:
 

Incognito

Legend
Tbh it's amazing how Rafa won the FO crowd over the years.

From being labelled as a "topspin monkey", and the FO crowd cheering against him for many years (simply because they liked Fed's flair and "elegant" style more) to eventually...they loved him so much that they built him a statue.

“Topspin monkey” is not the French crowd, that’s just @vive le beau jeu ! :D

Part of that was due to Fed but also Rafa slaughtering their home players on home soil at their most prestigious tournament. But they’ve grow to love him over the years.
 

big ted

Legend
Federer and Nadal fans crying in this thread over popularity. Don’t worry guys, that’s the only thing your two faves have going for them. 0 records between the two of them


but people love them so much that they think they’re the real goats :)
 

a10best

Legend
He was cheered more than Alcaraz in that quarter final match.

And what is all this crap that no one likes him?
Truth: The reality is he is not loved by most fans. Fans love Rafa and Roger far more and probably always will.

However, Djokovic's speeches are mostly encouraging, friendly, and respectful. Some fans hate him for no reason other than stealing 1 slam from Roger, his annoying as ___ck 15-20 ball bounces before a serve, and being demonstrative on the court. But his work ethic, training, and overall game should be applauded.

Djokovic still deserves a statue whether they love him or not. He has achieved the unthinkable in Australia. Kind of like Floyd Mayweather, considered the greatest boxer but his style (mostly defense) is not liked by most fans.
 
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FD3S

Hall of Fame
I reckon most tennis fans do like him. It's the causual viewers he's not popular with, and they are usually in majority. Real tennis fans wouldn't disrespect him the way the Melbourne crowd did.
Devil's advocate; IMO unless you're someone that's being dragged along for whatever reason I'd argue that anyone in attendance at a major is absolutely a real fan. Casuals don't have the inclination to spend the money/time it would take to attend the AO in person; that's no small commitment for both, even if you're based in Australia.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
There was a time, 2005-2011 or thereabouts, where the Roland Garros crowd didn't like Nadal. Nadal was the guy who would stop their beloved Federer.

It was only when Nadal started facing Djokovic regularly 2012-2015, and Federer didn't play there for 3 years in a row 2016-2018 time, when Nadal became a big fan favourite at Roland Garros.
 

Federev

G.O.A.T.
He also said him getting booed was a reasonable reaction because people don't love him. This guy is an idiot.
Not quite.

He said him getting booed was reasonable because he withdrew after one set, tickets are expensive, and it was an awful anticlimactic ending.

After that he talked about his not being loved.

I’m not saying it was reasonable or not. I’m just saying what he said.
 

Backspin1183

Talk Tennis Guru
Devil's advocate; IMO unless you're someone that's being dragged along for whatever reason I'd argue that anyone in attendance at a major is absolutely a real fan. Casuals don't have the inclination to spend the money/time it would take to attend the AO in person; that's no small commitment for both, even if you're based in Australia.
Then it's a shame. Djokovic, whether we like it or not, has achieved more in tennis than any other player before him. Even if we don't like him like Federer or Nadal, he deserves our respect.

Also, many of these attendees are just people with money. A friend of mine in Melbourne also bought a ticket, and he had no idea that Nadal retired last year.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Who gives a flying hockey puck what someone says about Novak's popularity? It doesn't matter. His accomplishments speak for themselves, and anyone trying to tear them down based solely on a metric like "fan count" is doing a disservice to the sport of tennis, good sportsmanship, and goodwill.

Whateley can go jump in a lake because anyone with any common sense knows that the only argument against Novak Djokovic is "weak era", the rest is just bosh.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
It's funny, Novak fans often try to point towards anti-Balkan prejudice, but depending on where you live, that doesn't necessarily factor in. This, however, might be a case of that, and knowing Australia's historical animosity towards people from Eastern Europe, I wonder if this doesn't stem from that to some degree.
 

CoolCoolCool

Hall of Fame
Not quite.

He said him getting booed was reasonable because he withdrew after one set, tickets are expensive, and it was an awful anticlimactic ending.

After that he talked about his not being loved.

I’m not saying it was reasonable or not. I’m just saying what he said.
That's pretty much what he implied when he said "let's not pretend he's loved" as a conclusion to his tirade. He pretty clearly implied that justifies the fact he got booed.
 

jondice

Semi-Pro
Djokovic is the clown who wasn't good enough to beat The Kings.
Federer-Nadal 2004-2010 will always be the 2 greatest players of all-time.
You'd have to be born in 2011 to think otherwise...

And even in 2011 when Fedal were no longer in physical prime form, Federer beat Djokovic at RG and was within a point of beating Djokovic at the US Open...
And in 2012 Federer beat Djokovic in 4 sets at Wimbledon!
And then Djokovic lost 6 of 7 matches to Nadal, including 2013 Canada and US Open :giggle:
I'm the biggest Rafa fan of all time and will go to my grave thinking he's the best player who lived. But stats wise, I must concede that Novak has an impeccable, GOAT level CV.

I'd rather watch Fed a million times out of million and Rafa a trillion times out of a trillion before Novak. But I have to call it like I see it.
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster

Whateley on Djokovic's statue "Novak is not loved here. He can be admired by for his achievements, but he's not loved."​


So you mean he does not deserve a statue?
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster

Whateley on Djokovic's statue "Novak is not loved here. He can be admired by for his achievements, but he's not loved."​


So you mean he does not deserve a statue?

I'm guessing Whately and others of similar mind think statues should be reserved for champions who were loved.

Would be interesting if they took a poll of Australian tennis fans on this to see how many agree with him....or not. .
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
I'm guessing Whately and others of similar mind think statues should be reserved for champions who were loved.

Would be interesting if they took a poll of Australian tennis fans on this to see how many agree with him....or not. .
I think that statues should be reserved for people who lived before the 20th century.
 

Zardoz7/12

Hall of Fame
Djokovic deserves a statue or some accolade at the Australian Open for his achievements there.

Djokovic will never be "loved" as much as Nadal or Federer but I ask, is tennis a popularity contest? No it isn't, so does it matter? Nope.

Djokovic is though more loved than Lendl was, Lendl was the measuring stick of champions nobody liked, very unfairly by the way as Ivan has a great personality and great sense of humor.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Djokovic deserves a statue or some accolade at the Australian Open for his achievements there.

Djokovic will never be "loved" as much as Nadal or Federer but I ask, is tennis a popularity contest? No it isn't, so does it matter? Nope.

Djokovic is though more loved than Lendl was, Lendl was the measuring stick of champions nobody liked, very unfairly by the way as Ivan has a great personality and great sense of humor.
Ivan Lendl has smart personality. Great no so much.

Neither did McEnroe or Connors. They are all bullies.

Then later Boris might be similar.

Federer and nadal especially changed the perception that you don't have to be a loudmouth to be popular.
 

Waves

Semi-Pro
Complex issue. Novak is loved enough by many. Most importantly, by those close to him. The rest is noise.
 

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
Gerard Whateley, one of Australia's biggest sports journalist has weighed on the topic of Djokovic getting a statue at Melbourne park. He compared it with Nadal's situation in Paris:

"There’s a statue of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros and it speaks to the love the Parisians have for Nadal, and that was enacted at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. It’s a Paris Games. Nadal is a Spaniard and he was featured like a hometown hero.

You walk into Roland Garros and there’s a beautiful silver statue of Nadal – because he is loved in that city.

Novak is not loved here. He can be admired for his achievements, but he’s not loved."

You can read the full article here:
https://sen.com.au/news/2025/01/28/fractious-australian-open-overshadowed-by-precious-prima-donnas

What do you guys think?
Why do facts have to hurt?
:D
Djokovic did borrow this from your Olympic hero I guess lol
A version of Nadal that was not even a thousandth of what he was.
Are you proud of your idol's feat, mate?
:sneaky:
 

Olli Jokinen

Hall of Fame
Djokovic and his fans have to be the most insecure desperate heels in all of sports. Most fans of disliked athletes can admit that their guy is hated and that they like them for that but Djokovic fans are the only one that bend themselves into pretzels to blame the hate on anything else other than the fact that their man is and has always been a complete knob.
This.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Typical Aussie media behavior. Most are still mad he didn't take the jab and he is their enemy. Of course most were fans of Fedal anyway but since the vaccine situation, the media there has gone very dark when it comes to him.


True; some of the same zealots scream about their right to use their bodies however they choose, yet turned into an aggressive dictatorship about the right of others to manage their health as they see fit. Hypocrites.

Bingo. The media in places like Australia and Canada are horrendous. They are establishment water carriers who despise anyone with any sort of autonomy who bucks the system. If you don't follow the crowd (the system) you're a black sheep who needs to be shunned.

^ This. They have no integrity--only an infantile mob mentality.
 

reaper

Legend
There is a statue of Margaret Court at Melbourne Park, which indicates that popularity is not a precondition for the building of a statue at the location.
 
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