Novak Djokovic ‘could never win’ popularity battle with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic was always destined to be the third cog in a narrative led by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but he will end his career as the greatest player of all-time.
That’s the verdict of respected broadcaster Marcus Buckland, who spoke to Tennis365 about the curious battle Djokovic has faced across the course of his decorated career.
His brilliance is respected by all, yet Djokovic has never received the kind of adoration Federer and Nadal have been used to from the tennis community, with Buckland suggesting that may never change.
“You don’t often appreciate the greats of sport until they have gone, but I suspect Novak will always be fighting for that,” he began.
“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 got an incredible amount of supporters and they are passionate, there is no doubt about that.
“But Federer, 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.”
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Buckland has no doubt that Djokovic is the greatest male player to pick up a racket, as he suggests the comments offered up by Rafael Nadal’s uncle and long-time coach Toni in recent days were telling.
“The quote the other day from uncle Toni when he was asked who is the greatest of them all in the battle for the ultimate GOAT in tennis was interesting,” he continued.
“He asked who was prepared to sacrifice the most to be known as the greatest player of all-time and his conclusion was that Novak had.
“The way he has conducted himself and his lifestyle, I would agree with that.
“You can only have admiration for him. The statistics he has put together speak for themselves and it could keep on going for some time yet.
“With everyone else falling by the wayside at the moment with injuries, there is no reason why Djokovic can’t enjoy a lot of success over the next few weeks.”
Djokovic has not always been given positive media coverage despite his success, but Buckland suggested the world No 1 has always been a delight to deal with.
“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.”
