16-time grand slam doubles champion Todd Woodbridge has claimed that Novak Djokovic is craving to be more popular than he already is.
The 48-year-old Australian spoke about the world No.1 on TV Show Sports Sunday. During the final of the Wimbledon championships, Djokovic played Roger Federer. During their clash, it was evident that the crowd favoured world No.3 Federer over him. Following the match Djokovic played down the incident. However, father Srdjan was far from happy about how his son was treated.
“There was a lot of unfriendliness in the cheering of the English fans towards Novak,” he said.
“I have the impression that they were less cheering for Federer and more against Novak.”
Weighing in on the subject, Woodbridge believes Djokovic wants to be loved too much. Emulating comments that was previously said by compatriot Nick Kyrgios. Earlier this year Kyrgios made a swipe at his fellow rival in an interview with NCR Podcast. Speaking with journalist Ben Rothenberg about Djokovic, he said ‘I just feel like he has a sick obsession with wanting to be liked. He just wants to be like Roger.’ Something the Woodbridge agrees with.
“He’s the victim of wanting to be loved, more than actually let the people love him. He’s seeking that,” Woodbridge said.
“In the semi-final of Wimbledon, you could see him go like this (cupping his ear) to hear the crowd. [Roberto] Bautista Agut had played a great point and the crowd really appreciated it, but he (Djokovic) wanted his applause to be louder.
“It’s bizarre behaviour from him. Look, he’s an incredible player, but he doesn’t need to go down that route; ‘Why aren’t you cheering for me even louder?’ And the crowd are going, ‘Mate, that was a great shot, we’re enjoying it, but just move on’.”
It is tough to accurately measure a player’s popularity due to numerous factors that could play a role. However, out of the big three Djokovic is the least popular when it comes to Facebook and Twitter. He is the only one of the trio to have fewer than 10 million Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers.
Social media figures (as of 28/7/19)
– Rafael Nadal = 15.7M Twitter followers, 14.4M Facebook likes
– Roger Federer = 12.6M Twitter followers, 14.8M Facebook Likes
– Novak Djokovic = 8.7M Twitter followers, 7.07M Facebook likes
The 16-time grand slam champion has previously spoken out about dealing with the crowd when they are not on his side. Following his latest triumph at Wimbledon, the 32-year-old explained that ‘mental training’ helps him cope in those situations.
“At times you just try to ignore it, which is quite hard. I like to transmutate it in a way: When the crowd is chanting ‘Roger’ I hear ‘Novak.’ It sounds silly, but it is like that. I try to convince myself that it’s like that.” He told reporters earlier this month.
Djokovic will not be playing in the upcoming Rogers Cup due to fatigue. He is scheduled to return to the courts at the Western and Southern Open, which will get underway on August 11th.
