Novak Djokovic has been told that he won fans over by being himself. Former world No 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga believes that the 24-time Grand Slam champion went through a period of “wanting to be” like his rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist is happy to see Djokovic embrace his “warrior” personality, something he thinks makes the Serb more loveable.
Djokovic spent much of his career playing catch-up to Federer and Nadal. As the youngest member of the Big Three, he turned pro later on and trailed both men in the Grand Slam tally for years. But he has since surpassed them to be crowned the undisputed GOAT, holding the most Majors in Open Era history and the most all-time weeks at No 1.
However, the 36-year-old has often struggled to receive the same support and admiration from tennis fans even after breaking his rivals’ records. And retired Frenchman Tsonga believes that it could be because Djokovic spent too long trying to mirror Federer and Nadal.
“I consider that he had a period where he didn’t want to be himself. He wanted to be Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, when perhaps he should have remained himself all along. I think today he is himself,” Tsonga told the Generation Do It Yourself podcast.
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Explaining why the world No 1 had been able to win around some new supporters, the 38-year-old continued: “And even if it is divisive, I think that’s why it is appreciated by many people. Because now he’s completely honest. He doesn’t do things to be appreciated. He does things because he considers that they deserve to be done that way. We gain a lot from being ourselves.”
And Tsonga thinks that fans would have gotten behind Djokovic years ago if he was himself. He added: “He wanted to get away from this warrior image that he has, because he is a Serb, who experienced difficult things in his childhood. So he’s a warrior, he should have assumed it from the start. I think he would have been loved for that.”
Djokovic recently opened up on playing in “hostile environments” after spending years facing crowds who were cheering against him. While he preferred to have more support, the 36-year-old explained that he learned to thrive under the difficult conditions.
“For most of my career, it was mostly hostile environments for me,” the 98-time title winner told CBS 60 Minutes. “I kind of learn how to thrive in that environment. And people think that it’s actually better if they don’t like me so that it kind of gets the best out of me in terms of tennis. It did happen. But at the same time, I actually enjoy more being in an environment where I have nice, nice support.”
