Novak Djokovic ‘has to be jealous’ when he looks in on Rafael Nadal’s farewell tour

Novak Djokovic must be looking in on the latest leg of the Rafael Nadal farewell tour with a hint of envy.

The outgoing world No 1 has spent his entire career battling against the tide of popularity that washed towards his great rivals Roger Federer and Nadal, his career is edging towards a conclusion without even a hint of that adulation coming his way.

The affection for Nadal was in evidence in Madrid, as he was given a lavish presentation and send-off by his home fans in what was likely to have been his final appearance at that tournament.

Similar scenes were in evidence in Rome, as an estimated 15,000 fans cheered Nadal’s name as he strolled across the walkway in an image that captured the impact this great champion has had on the sport.

Now the Nadal story has been transported to the venue that has given him a stage to create his legend, with the Roland Garros courts where he won the French Open title 14 times giving him a legacy that will never be surpassed.

The sight of packed crowds cheering on Nadal in his practice sessions are serving to confirm his status as the star of this year’s French Open in what may be his final appearance at Roland Garros.

Meanwhile, Djokovic showed up in Paris on Saturday after his latest horrible defeat against Tomas Machac at the Geneva Open and didn’t get any of the euphoria that is omnipresent around Nadal.

Djokovic has been fighting a losing battle as he went up against Federer and Nadal in a battle to win the affection of tennis fans throughout his decorated career, with the two greats who dominated the game before he upset their cosy party at the top of the men’s game containing to hog the majority of the support from lovers of the sport.

READ MORE: Roger Federer assesses Rafael Nadal’s French Open chances as he shares retirement wish

Even when Federer retired two years ago and Nadal missed most of the last two seasons due to injury, Djokovic has still been the ‘bad boy’ for tennis fans around the world, with the Serb appearing to give up on his battle to win over his critics as he took on his detractors by cupping his ear to his detractors in the crowd at Wimbledon last year and even conducting fans as they jeered him at last year’s ATP Finals in Turin.

Djokovic may well call time on his career in the next 12 months and ongoing animosity being shown towards him suggests that the send-off he will get will be very different to that of his two big rivals.

Federer had an emotional send-off at the 2022 Laver Cup and Nadal is enjoying an elongated farewell, but respected tennis broadcaster Marcus Buckland suggests Djokovic will face a very different fate at the end of his career.

“You don’t often appreciate the greats of sport until they have gone, but I suspect Novak will always be fighting for that,” Buckland told Tennis365.

“There is great admiration for him, there already is and that will only grow as the years go by.

“Where he is unlucky is he spent most of his career up against the two most popular tennis players of all-time.

“Novak has an incredible amount of supporters and they are passionate fans, there is no doubt about that.

“But then you look back at Federer and it’s different. I always remember at the 02 Arena in London for the ATP Finals and all of his sessions were sold out as people didn’t want to miss the chance to see him.

“Nadal has basically garnered the same sort of admiration and love from his supporters and unfortunately for Novak, he has come through at a time when he was up against two remarkable individuals and that was always going to be challenging for him.

“For that reason, he might not quite get the admiration he deserves.

Buckland has interviewed Djokovic on numerous occasions and insists his professionalism in those exchanges was exemplary.

“Personally, I’ve always found him to be absolutely outstanding,” he added. “In some ways, he’s almost too good with the media.

“When you are going the on court stuff, you get three questions after a match and the idea is that the interview with last two minutes.

“Then Novak will give you a brilliant two-minute answer to your first question and you have a PR person telling you to wind it up, but that is not Djokovic’s fault.

“I’ve only ever seen the good side of Novak and I would always be reluctant to criticise anybody if they have been good with me.

“Of course, he is an extremely competitive individual and he gets very frustrated, getting involved in all kinds of controversy, but I actually admire him for his honesty. I admired what he stood up for during the whole Covid business, even though I know a lot of people went the other way.”

Will Djokovic ever get the kind of adulation coming Nadal’s way in Paris right now? It seems unlikely, but he can console himself with the reality that he will finish his career as the most successful male tennis player of all-time.