"It is almost trendy not to like Novak Djokovic" - Johanna Konta
Former tennis player Johanna Konta recently gave her take on why some people dislike Novak Djokovic, claiming that it is "almost trendy" to do so.
Konta, a former British No. 1, retired from professional tennis in December 2021. She won four WTA and 11 ITF singles titles and achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 4 in July 2017.
Ahead of the US Open, Konta sat down with Sky Sports to discuss Djokovic's career, his prospects at the New York Major, and his relative lack of popularity among tennis fans.
"He doesn't get that kind of fan recognition in a way," Konta said. "Also, people like to jump on a bandwagon when they hate on someone just because that's what you do, so I do think he's fallen in this space of people don't like Novak because it's trendy. It's almost trendy not to like Novak."
Konta suggested that, if asked, fans wouldn't be able to answer why they disliked Djokovic. She added that she was a "secret" fan of the Serb.
"I don't see any one person can say why they don't like Djokovic, specifically because no one knows him," she said. "Equally, no one knows Roger and Rafa either. No one knows them personally, so if you stopped one fan and asked them why they don't like Novak they wouldn't know really. I'm a secret Novak fan for that reason."
"Djokovic has had the toughest image just because he just got there a bit later" - Johanna Konta
During the same interview, Johanna Konta pointed out that Novak Djokovic arrived on the scene when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had already accumulated massive fan bases.
"Out of the top stars, Novak has had the toughest image just because he just got there a bit later and there were huge fan bases for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer," she said. "And because Rafa and Roger can claim to have changed the game."
"They brought in something new and Novak can't claim that, but he's one of the main reasons why the game is where it is now by pushing it physically. It's incredible but I think it sucks for him," she added.
The Serb is set to compete at the US Open after a gap of two years. He was a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2021, losing to Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.