Novak Djokovic, a winning machine but with a heart to conquer

Twenty-two Grand Slam titles, 93 ATP-level consecrations, 373 weeks (and counting) as number one in the rankings… No one can dispute the extraordinary record of Novak Djokovicwhich, however He has never enjoyed an affection up to those goals.

Deported a year ago from Australia for not having been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Serbian has equaled the 22 “big” of Rafael Nadal with a triumphant return to his favorite tournament, marred in part by a new controversy, linked to his father srdjan.

So Freight35 years old, he has everything to be a popular idol: kind, respectful, helpful, sympathetic, patriotic, good family man, intelligent, cultured, polyglot…

Objective reasons are being sought to explain the indifference on the part of the public, which often his applause stings. Even a minority booed him during his semifinal match at the ocean tournament, after his father posed with people carrying a Russian flag with Putin’s face on it and a T-shirt with the “Z” symbol of the invasion of Ukraine.

Maybe it’s because it’s too mechanical? Too predictable? Too defensive? Maybe because it exaggerates a lot? Or could it be perceived as arrogant? It might just be that he’s too strong for the rest.

Nor do they help the public’s weakness for the already retired Roger Federer nor sympathy for Nadal, his main rivals.

To a reporter who asked him how he took being considered the “bad guy” (“bad boy”) in the fight for the title of The best of all time (the “GOAT“, for the acronym in English) which has long been the protagonist with the Swiss and the Spanish, Freight he answered: “I don’t consider myself bad. This is your opinion.”

Djokovic is still in great shape despite his age. Your secret? A gluten-free diet for ten years, a paradoxical thing for the son of a pizza maker; an oxygen chamber for recovery; a guru for mental aspects and visits to a mysterious “pyramid” in Bosnia, which is actually a natural hill.

However, his bad reputation was on the rise during the pandemicwhen he was a disease and vaccine skeptic, earning the nickname of “NoVax”.

In mid-2020, when all official tennis activity was still suspended due to the health crisis, he organized a tournament in the Balkans, the controversial Adriana tour-, which has become a source of infections from COVID-19. He and his wife were among those who tested positive during that contest. And he was expelled from Australia just over twelve months ago for attempting to enter the country without having been vaccinated.

Upon his return to Melbourne this year, he was yet again the subject of controversy. Firstly, due to the injury he suffered during the first week and from which he suddenly recovered, causing suspicions and accusations he had faked, a situation in which it had already been seen several times in the past. And then for the images of the father who, second FreightThey have been misinterpreted.

“It is interesting that only my injury is in doubt. When it is another who is injured, he is a victim“said Djokovic, in what could be an allusion to Nadal, praised for his victory in 2022 after almost six months without playing due to a chronic problem in his left foot.

But along with the controversy, the Serbian has also demonstrated grand gestures and invests time and effort in his campaign of seduction: he jokes with the spectators, signs many autographs, never gets tired of posing for photos with the children…

He also speaks English, German, Italian and, increasingly, French and Spanish. After winning his first title in Roland Garrosin 2016, he drew a big heart on the brick dust of the Philip Chatrier and in 2021, after winning the second in Paris, gave his victory racket to a little boywho had encouraged him throughout the final.

on the court its greatness is hard to argue withdespite a strong decline after the elbow operation four years ago, which even dropped him from the top 20 in the world rankings.

Today, he has 22 Grand Slams in his possession and a total of 93 titles. He broke the record for weeks at world number one in pete sampraswhich will continue to increase as of this Monday, e leads the history of comparisons with Nadal (30-29) and with Federer (27-23).

Discovered by the former player and manager Jelena Gencic, who also instilled in him knowledge of classical music and literature, Djokovic trained at Partizan in Belgrade and then his family made a huge effort to send him to Germany. And at the age of 7 he had declared on Serbian television that he wanted to be number one in the world.

Born in 1987, the young Novak was deeply marked by the experience of the war Kosovowhen he was 12 years old. To escape the bombing of BORN spent the nights for two and a half months in air raid shelters… and the day on a tennis court, since the school was closed.

Very patriotic, although he prefers to reside in Monaco, he is used to defending Serbia’s image and is concerned with building ties with the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

“My whole family has been through several wars. We will never support any kind of violence or warHe said this in Melbourne, after the controversy over his father, which once again made him the focus of criticism.

Undisputed on the pitch, the great unpaid debt in Djokovic’s extraordinary career remains the title of “Crowd Favorite”.