It’s only when they get older and start losing that we start loving them. That’s how it was with John McEnroe. ‘Superbrat’ we used to call him in the early 80s, when he was pretty much unbeatable. But come the last years of that decade, and by then the underdog, fans were willing him on.
Even if some in the Wimbledon crowd still haven’t forgiven him for posing as some kind of threat to public health they should surely now start appreciating his wonderful sporting talents while they have the chance
It’s starting to be the same with an even greater player. The greatest of all time, in fact: Novak Djokovic, who is on Centre Court today. He’s won more Grand Slam titles than any other male player – ten Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons, three French Opens and four US Opens, making a total of 24. Only the Australian superstar from the 1960s, Margaret Court, can match that number. He leaves all the other greats, male or female, trailing. Yet it’s only now, at the age of 38, with his powers fading and retirement, surely, not that far away, that the fans are showing him some affection.
Why has it taken us so long? Because Novak was the interloper. Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Everyone loved it when it was just Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. Roger was graceful, almost balletic. Rafa was all muscular athleticism, with his awesome whipped forehand. It was the perfect match, and we revelled in the contrast.
Then Novak barged in. What did he offer? Ruthless efficiency. He was a winning machine, famed for clinical precision, who took fitness to new levels, with a largely vegan diet and a pressurised container that he could leap into after matches to aid recovery. The crowds failed to appreciate all this dedication. How dare he usurp the big two – how dare he take it so seriously and be so good!
Some players didn’t warm to him either. Perhaps he didn’t help himself by developing a comedy routine where he impersonated their first serves. Perhaps they thought he was taking liberties.
There were other unfortunate incidents that were bad for Novak’s brand. Like skipping tournaments early in his career after he’d committed to playing. Like his belief in the power of emotions to purify water, which even I admit sounds weird. Like getting himself disqualified after smashing a ball in anger at the US Open in 2020 and hitting a line judge in the throat.
Well, in a career lasting more than two decades, the occasional mishap is inevitable. But whereas the more titles Rafa and Roger won, the more the crowds swooned and adored them, Novak was forgotten and slighted. Even his multilingual graciousness in victory or defeat and spectacular off-court philanthropy didn’t help. He was always the villain.
And then came Covid. Novak famously chose not to get vaccinated, saying, incontrovertibly in my view, that it should be up to him what’s squirted into his arm, and that choosing not to be jabbed should be no one else’s business but his. Yet millions around the world considered this a terrible sin, and tournament organisers agreed, barring him from the Australian Open and US Open in 2022. He would have been clear favourite to win both tournaments, so he was sacrificing an awful lot for his principles. In Australia, he was even detained by the border force and then deported after a row over whether he could prove a medical exemption from the need to prove he’d had the Covid shot. No one can imagine that happening to Federer.
I chose that moment to take Novak into my heart. Despite my reservations about the jab, I had three shots over a 12-month period, allowing me to continue travelling abroad to conduct corporate work. Clearly my principles, if I have any, are not as strongly held as his.
But even if some in the Wimbledon crowd still haven’t forgiven him for posing as some kind of threat to public health they should surely now start appreciating his wonderful sporting talents while they have the chance. French fans did exactly that at Roland Garros a few weeks ago, giving him huge support in his eventual loss to Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the semi-final. Djokovic, used to being the baddy in Paris, was stunned, tearful and grateful.
Will Wimbledon fans similarly, finally, show him love and respect, in what must surely be one of his last appearances on tennis’s grandest stage? I certainly hope so. In fact, I expect so. There is no sensible reason for all this anti-Novak stuff, especially now Rafa and Roger have moved on. He’s the greatest. All tennis fans should recognise it. And they’ll surely miss him when he’s gone.
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