{"id":373477,"date":"2025-12-28T17:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/373477\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:25:08","slug":"novak-djokovic-set-to-return-to-the-scene-of-his-biggest-show-of-disrespect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/373477\/","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic set to return to the scene of his biggest show of disrespect"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the moment Novak Djokovic<\/a> stepped on the biggest stages in tennis for the first time, his battle for acceptance began \u2013 and he is still fighting that battle heading into what may be the final year of his career.<\/p>\n

Hailing from war-torn Serbia, Djokovic openly admits he felt like an outsider as he took on rivals who came from nations more familiar with success to a glocal audience.<\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s Roger Federer<\/a>, Spain\u2019s Rafael Nadal<\/a> and Scotland\u2019s Andy Murray<\/a> came from nations more familiar to the crowds there were performing in front of around the world, leaving Djokovic to try and find a way to share the stage with them.<\/p>\n

When Federer and Nadal made it clear that they would not help him to settle into life at the top of men\u2019s tennis, his challenge became even more acute.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy behaviour towards them never changed,\u201d said the 24-time Grand Slam champion stated during a conversation with former footballer and coach Slaven Bilic earlier this year.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic points finger at Rafael Nadal and \u2018cold\u2019 Roger Federer over Big 3 relationship change<\/a><\/p>\n

Why the 2026 Australian Open could be Novak Djokovic\u2019s last tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation changed because they changed their behaviour towards me. I always tried to be, how to say, I admired them. And I still consider them as those who paved the way for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially Federer, who is six years older than me. But from the moment I felt this coldness and distance from him, I told myself: \u2018Ok, no problem.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, when they reached out to me, I welcomed them with open arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Nadal, I always felt I understood him better. We are the same age, so maybe that\u2019s why.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic has opened up on his relationship with Federer and Nadal in recent years, with his presence at the duos farewell events highlighting the annomisity they showed towards him has thawed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always respected and greatly admired Nadal. Thanks to him and Federer, I grew up and became who I am,\u201d said Djokovic earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will unite us forever, so I feel gratitude towards them. Nadal is a part of my life, in the last 15 years, I\u2019ve seen more of him than my mum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never been friends. Between rivals, it is not possible, but we have never been enemies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had respect for Federer, he was one of the greatest of all time. He had an extraordinary impact, but I\u2019ve never been close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The additional challenges Djokovic has faced coming from a nation that gave him limited financial support in his formative days makes his success of winning more Grand Slam titles than Federer and Nadal all the more remarkable.<\/p>\n

Yet the acceptance meant more to the player who came from a nation that was getting very little love from the global audiences he was trying to impress, his Serbia\u2019s role in the Balkan war ensuring Djokovic was fighting a losing battle in his own world when he broke up the dominance of Federer and Nadal at the top of men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n

He was not embraced despite his success and even after winning his battle to secure more titles than Federer and Nadal, tennis fans refused to give Djokovic the respect he was due.<\/p>\n

Jeers at Wimbledon and the US Open were especially hurtful, while the boos that came his way as he was forced to quit his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev last January was a shocking turn of events.<\/p>\n

A ten-time champion in Melbourne deserved much more than he got on that occasion, with Zverev telling Tennis365 he has been shocked by the abuse that comes the way of Djokovic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the crowd paid for tickets and they want to see a battle probably between us with four hours, five hours, you know, going to distance,\u201d Zverev told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview, as he looked back on a day that saw Djokovic booed as he left the court in Melbourne at an Adidas event.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, he won that tournament 10 times. He won it with injury, he won a term on different occasions, with different problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he said that he can\u2019t play a semi-final with Grand Slam, that means he can\u2019t play a semi-final with Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think he gets a lot of undeserved hate. Obviously, Roger and Rafa are probably two of the most loved athletes of all time, right? They\u2019re probably both in the top 10 of the most-loved athletes of all time.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2029And Novak was spoiling the party a lot for the fans. But, you know, all I can say is Novak is genuinely a good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Djokovic is respected by his fellow players who look up to him and relish the chance to take on the player widely respected as the greatest in tennis history.<\/p>\n

So the time has come for tennis fans in 2026 to join that chorus of acclaim for a player who may soon join the ranks of former players.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Rafael Nadal opens door to Roger Federer exhibition tour, with one crucial caveat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the moment Novak Djokovic stepped on the biggest stages in tennis for the first time, his battle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-373477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}