Novak Djokovic is more loved than you might imagine. His most committed supporters, the Nole Fam, adore him with an intensity the Fed-Heads couldn’t ever match for their guy.
It’s just that when you put the greatest player of all time on the grandest, most elegant stage in tennis – Centre Court at Wimbledon, where he will be on Friday for his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti – it can sometimes sound and feel as though he is unloved.
Djokovic runs into a small but vocal group of Centre Court provocateurs or agitators. Is it going too far to be talking about Centre Court ‘haters’? Don’t tennis players only have critics or detractors?
But speak to some of Djokovic’s followers at the All England Club and that’s how they characterise sections of that particular crowd. Wimbledon’s main show court, usually such a lovely place, doesn’t always seem like such a gentle environment when Djokovic is playing.
There are supposedly few more well-mannered and benign sporting audiences than the Centre Court crowd, but Djokovic has had some awkward afternoons and evenings here.
One of those was on Monday when the Serb felt as though some spectators were booing him under the guise of chanting the name of his Danish fourth-round opponent, Holger Rune.
In his on-court interview, Djokovic made his displeasure clear – his fans liked what they heard, praising him for his authenticity and his willingness to stand up to what they regard as the tennis establishment. Friday will be an illustration of how others feel about Djokovic’s remarks the other night.
This weekend might bring his most outrageous triumph. At the age of 37, and just a month after a knee operation, he could be about to land an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title.
But if he does the mood might not be as celebratory as it should be. How come? Some around Djokovic seem to think it’s a Centre Court thing rather than a Wimbledon thing, and he’s more popular around the grounds than he is among the well-connected with access to the biggest court.
Very early on, Novak was made aware he wasn’t the darling of the world ... this is a sport dominated by Western culture and the Western media and Novak comes from the former East
“Very early on, Novak was made aware he wasn’t the darling of the world,” Djokovic’s fitness trainer, Gebhard Gritsch, told me. Is this because of his background, because he’s from Serbia?
“When Novak was young, he learned that he wasn’t going to be the most liked person because of his cultural background and many other things. This is a sport dominated by Western culture and the Western media and Novak comes from the former East.
“For the older generation of fans in the West, that’s still something in their minds. If Novak had grown up in, say, Germany or Switzerland, it definitely would have been different.”
Perhaps some on Centre have taken against Djokovic because of the times he has beaten Roger Federer here. But if some inside Wimbledon don’t care for Djokovic, is that such a terrible thing?
There’s a quote from his late friend and mentor Kobe Bryant, the former basketball player, that Djokovic likes: “Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.”
