"Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer were the biggest superstars, but Novak Djokovic came & beat them, crowds hated him for that" - Serena Williams' ex-coach
Serena Williams' former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, has given his reasons why Novak Djokovic often faces boos from hostile crowds.
Djokovic is no stranger to tense interactions with the audience at tournaments. Most recently, the Serb was involved in a heated exchange with the Great Britain fans at the Davis Cup. Prior to that, he also dealt with a hostile crowd during his clash with home favorite Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Mouratoglou recently offered a possible explanation for why the 24-time Grand Slam champion frequently faces boos from spectators. He stated that when Djokovic broke through on the tennis scene, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were already established superstars and expected to reign for years to come.
As such, the Serb challenging and defeating them led to a shift in public sentiment, causing him to be "hated" by the crowds, according to Mouratoglou.
"Rafa and Roger were the biggest superstars of tennis, but Novak came in and beat both of them and the crowds hated him for that. I think he is booed for other reasons as well," Mouratoglou said (via UTS London).
Mouratoglou also expressed his belief that, although the Serb has frequently mentioned his dislike for the negativity, he often incites the crowd himself to fuel himself. The Frenchman then highlighted Djokovic's massive fan following, calling him the "biggest name in tennis."
"He [Novak Djokovic] says he doesn’t like this negativity, but sometimes he pushes the crowd to boo him because it helps him during the matches.. What we should not forget is has 14 million followers on Instagram, he is a huge hero in Serbia. He is the biggest name in tennis and we will all miss him when he stops playing the sport," he added.
Novak Djokovic on his rivalry with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal: "For many years I felt like there was no room for three"
Novak Djokovic had expressed a similar sentiment earlier, highlighting the challenge of breaking through Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's dominance in the sport.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion disclosed that he felt there was no room for a third player to dominate alongside the duo. The World No. 1 candidly admitted that he eventually came to terms with his place in the sport, embracing the role of the villain.
"To break the rivalry of Nadal and Federer, I kinda put myself in the mix, in a way. For many years I felt like there was no room for three, so I had to deal with that, but it's okay, in the end of the day I accepted that kind of role as maybe the bad guy of tennis," he said in September.
Djokovic has forged historic rivalries with both Federer and Nadal. The Serb leads 27-23 in his head-to-head record against the 20-time Grand Slam champion and maintains a slight edge over Nadal too, with a 30-29 record.