Why is Djokovic far more popular in China than in USA?

Don´t know how you measure his popularity in CHina and in US, but in US he had that Roddick incident in 2008 and always they have their players + Roger is loved there

In China on other hand tennis is developing recently, Nole is 2x Beijing champion + won Shanghai 2008 when it was Masters cup... don´t know really
 
Romismak said:
Don´t know how you measure his popularity in CHina and in US, but in US he had that Roddick incident in 2008 and always they have their players + Roger is loved there

In China on other hand tennis is developing recently, Nole is 2x Beijing champion + won Shanghai 2008 when it was Masters cup... don´t know really
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Don't forget his medal in '08.
 
I think in China they love all the top players equal, so no matter who is on the court (Fed, Rafa, Nole), they will worship him and admire his skills. I think they are like that in all sports.

In US, that is not the case. They pick their idol and stick to him, never cheering for his opponent. Even if his opponent is playing superb.
They love winners like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.
 
TTMR said:
Nobody in America knows who Djokovic is.
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not true at all. I travel a lot and Americans know very well who Djokovic is. Same in our beautiful hockey obsessed Canada. All of my friends/coworkers know very well who Djokovic is.

so save your BS for someone else.
 
Evan77 said:
not true at all. I travel a lot and Americans know very well who Djokovic is. Same in our beautiful hockey obsessed Canada. All of my friends/coworkers know very well who Djokovic is.

so save your BS for someone else.
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Yes, probably because you told them. You are fixated on the guy.

Tennis players are known and discussed by serious tennis fans, who are a marginal, irrelevant group in North America. Casual sports fans (people who like the big four American team sports) generally know nothing about tennis and will stare at you vacantly if you utter the name "Djokovic".
 
TTMR said:
Yes, probably because you told them. You are fixated on the guy.

Tennis players are known and discussed by serious tennis fans, who are a marginal, irrelevant group in North America. Casual sports fans (people who like the big four American team sports) generally know nothing about tennis and will stare at you vacantly if you utter the name "Djokovic".
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nope. I didn't tell anything to anybody. It's the fact for anyone who loves any kind of sports. I think you are underestimating Americans. I don't know, maybe I was lucky enough to meet some smart and educated Yanks :). again, many people in Canada know very well who he is although they don't watch tennis on a regular basis.

now I'm not saying Novak is a household name in the States, of course not, but again people who love sport know who he is.

As for China vs. USA, not really sure how you measure this popularity thing. i think, in general, tennis is much more established and popular in the States than China, but China is getting there.
cheers,
 
I'm pretty sure the past events between Djokovic and Roddick at the US Open a few years ago didn't help his popularity in the USA.
 
He is an Eastern European. Many Americans are wary of those from the former Eastern Bloc because of the Cold War. Look at Ivan Lendl. Eastern European players like Mandlikova, Navratilova, Ljubicic, Ancic, Lendl, and Djokovic were never really in favor the U.S.
 
I must admit I couldn't help noticing how the Chinese audience seemed to be rooting for Djokovic in last year's Shanghai final against Murray. Despite being the 2 time defending champ in Shanghai, they sighed every time Murray got to a match point (there were 5 of them) and cheered each time he failed to convert one. When Djokovic finally won, they went wild.

So it seems there must be some truth to it. Maybe it's because he's world #1 or maybe they just find him sexier? ;)

As for the US, I'm guessing for tennis fans there may still be some residue left from his well-publicised spat with Roddick, the all-American hero, at the 2008 US Open. His Serbian background including memories of the Balkan war when US planes bombed Belgrade and the uncertainty many US commentators seem to have about pronouncing hiis name (is it DjOkovic or DjAAkovic) might contribute to make him appear a bit more alien and exotic than, say, Roger and Rafa with their more familiar and more re-assuring Swiss and Spanish backgrounds.

Just my twopennyworth.
 
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Can't just single out the US. Djokovic is hardly a media darling in England, France or Australia.

Djokovic gets great support in Italy though.
 
Maximagq said:
He is an Eastern European. Many Americans are wary of those from the former Eastern Bloc because of the Cold War. Look at Ivan Lendl. Eastern European players like Mandlikova, Navratilova, Ljubicic, Ancic, Lendl, and Djokovic were never really in favor the U.S.
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This pretty much sums up 'Murica.. :)
 
Maximagq said:
He is an Eastern European. Many Americans are wary of those from the former Eastern Bloc because of the Cold War. Look at Ivan Lendl. Eastern European players like Mandlikova, Navratilova, Ljubicic, Ancic, Lendl, and Djokovic were never really in favor the U.S.
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Ancic and Ljubicic? What do you expect? Those two guys were never good enough to be household names.
 
Sid_Vicious said:
Can't just single out the US. Djokovic is hardly a media darling in England, France or Australia.
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Well, as far as the UK goes, he is perceived as the main rival to Murray and so, while greatly respected as a player and for his achievements, he is unlikely to ever be a media darling here while he is competing with Murray for the big titles, especially at Wimbledon. Heck, it's only comparatively recently that Murray himself became a media darling here!

Sid_Vicious said:
Djokovic gets great support in Italy though.
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He speaks Italian fluently and he and his girlfriend, Jelena Ristic seem to spend a lot of time there from what I can gather (Jelena studied in Italy and earned her Master's degree in Management there).
 
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Mainad said:
Well, as far as the UK goes, he is perceived as the main rival to Murray and so, while greatly respected as a player and for his achievements, he is unlikely to ever be a media darling here while he is competing with Murray for the big titles, especially at Wimbledon. Heck, it's only comparatively recently that Murray himself became a media darling here!



He speaks Italian fluently and he and his girlfriend, Jelena seem to spend a lot of time there from what I can gather (Jelena studied in Italy and graduated there).
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Its not like Djokovic gets booed at the USO yearly. Djokovic is greatly respected as a player even here. That 2008 incident is all water under the bridge now. Trust me, nobody has an axe to grind with Djokovic. Remember the 2010 USO final? The crowd was simply charmed by Djokovic's positive attitude towards the end of that match

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ulqiqgGkFw
 
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newpball said:
Well the first question is how on earth do you conclude that. Tennis in China is very insignificant.
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This post seemed relevant to that: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=7783523&postcount=17123.

I think another poster might've been right as well. Not a huge amount of tennis fans, and most have committed themselves to Roger or Rafa (or Murray in the U.K.), not a whole lot left to jump on Novak's bandwagon. But some of China's tennis fans may be relatively fresh and thus happy to jump on whoever's the best right now.
 
So a couple of people wanting to make a picture of a tennis player at the airport is indicative of the popularity of tennis in China?

In China there are a few private clubs that have some courts but by far most people have no access to a tennis court, they hardly know the existence of the game let alone the name of a single player.
 
newpball said:
So a couple of people wanting to make a picture of a tennis player at the airport is indicative of the popularity of tennis in China?

In China there are a few private clubs that have some courts but by far most people have no access to a tennis court, they hardly know the existence of the game let alone the name of a single player.
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This post obviously shows you have no first hand experience to what your saying. Please save flexing the notoriously ignorant californian world view.
 
Probably because he's less popular in the US...

And also, Djokovic knows how to please the "random audience" in China, while other guys are just being normal.
 
newpball said:
So a couple of people...
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I presume you can't count past two then? :oops: I wasn't even making a point lol, just thought it was relevant. Take from it what you will. If anything I agreed with you, there's not a whole lot of tennis fans in China right now (at least to my knowledge).
 
There is a glamour associated with the right kind of "foreigner" in some Asian countries.

See the movie Lost in Translation some time.
 
Maximagq said:
He is an Eastern European. Many Americans are wary of those from the former Eastern Bloc because of the Cold War. Look at Ivan Lendl. Eastern European players like Mandlikova, Navratilova, Ljubicic, Ancic, Lendl, and Djokovic were never really in favor the U.S.
Click to expand...

you may be on to something here...
 
Maximagq said:
He is an Eastern European. Many Americans are wary of those from the former Eastern Bloc because of the Cold War. Look at Ivan Lendl. Eastern European players like Mandlikova, Navratilova, Ljubicic, Ancic, Lendl, and Djokovic were never really in favor the U.S.
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Yugoslavia was NEVER a part of the Eastern Block... Although, an average American doesn't know/want to know that.
But, Djokovic is from a nation demonised by Western media :(

On the bright side:
China has 5 times the population of US, so it's easy for him to have more fans there ;)
Yugoslavian and Serbian governments always had very good relationship with China. Some parts of Belgrade have turned into a Little China. Those guys travel back, talk to the families, etc. Some of their love for Nole would be transfered back home.
Djokovic tries to address Chinese spectators in Chinese a bit. They love it.
 
Why is Djokovic far more popular in China than in USA?
1) Tennis is the third most popular sport on Chinese television.
2) He's not a Japanese. Chinese only hate Japanese.
 
First, I am surprised to hear that Djokovic is popular in China. Or anywhere else for that matter, outside of Serbia.
His lack of fan support goes back to his personality, his family background, his embarrassing efforts to make himself more "likeable"...
There's no point in going over this one more time, it's been discussed here in many threads over and over again.

So why is he popular in stadiums China (if indeed he is)?
For one thing, I believe Chinese tennis spectators might not be particularly familiar with all the little things in a players background.
They see him play, and that's all they know about him, and they admire the way he plays.
Also they probably buy his BS. They see him dancing, and trying hard to crack jokes and seem like a nice guy, and who knows, maybe they buy it.
Due to cultural differences too, it might be a bit more difficult for them to judge a foreigner's character based on the limited information they have about him.
 
BlueB said:
Yugoslavia was NEVER a part of the Eastern Block... Although, an average American doesn't know/want to know that.
But, Djokovic is from a nation demonised by Western media :(

On the bright side:
China has 5 times the population of US, so it's easy for him to have more fans there ;)
Yugoslavian and Serbian governments always had very good relationship with China. Some parts of Belgrade have turned into a Little China. Those guys travel back, talk to the families, etc. Some of their love for Nole would be transfered back home.
Djokovic tries to address Chinese spectators in Chinese a bit. They love it.
Click to expand...


sure, its the 'western's media's' fault that Serbia has a less than sterling reputation :rolleyes:

rewriting (or really, ignoring) history much?
 
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I don't know how popular he is in China but he is a great, respectful loser but totally obnoxious when he wins. This rubs many the wrong way.

He used to play more exciting tennis but to compete with Rafa he developed a diff. style which is not everyone's cup of tea.
 
DRII said:
sure, its the 'western's media' fault that Serbia has a less than sterling reputation :rolleyes:
rewriting (or really, ignoring) history much?
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Study the sources beyond the Western mainstream media and find out for yourself.
Study the history, at least 100 years back, preferably about 1000 back.
Also, compare with the doings of USA from the inception, to find out who truely has history of aggression.
Also find out who was the main ally of the West in the world major conflicts, in the Balkans and Eastern Europian region.

Other then this, I won't go into politics any further.
 
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