Tennis Today: Multilingual Novak Djokovic impresses Kazakh locals ahead of Rafael Nadal match

Shahida Jacobs
Novak Djokovic celebrating from PA

In Tennis Today, Novak Djokovic knows how to win over the locals in Kazakhstan while Roger Federer donates appearance fee to charity.

What’s on the site
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are not playing official ATP Tour matches this week as they are in Kazakhstan for an exhibition tournament (more on that below) and Vienna tournament director Thomas Muster is not happy.

“Nadal and Djokovic only play where and when they want,” Muster said.

Roger Federer hasn’t played in the Davis Cup in recent years, but he will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Olympic Games thanks to “specific rules”.

It is a real battle for Alexander Zverev at the moment and the German admits he is struggling mentally, saying after his latest defeat that he was “completely flat for some reason”.

What’s in the news
Roger Federer’s appearance fees are in the “higher six-digit, sometimes even the seven-digit range” these days, but every single penny that he gets at the Swiss Indoors Basel this week will go to the Roger Federer Foundation, according to Basler Zeitung, via Express Sport.

As Kim Clijsters prepares for her 2020 comeback, tennis great Steffi Graf has warned the former world No 1 that it will be “very difficult”, also in Express Sport.

In case you missed it, the Tennis Podcast discusses Andy Murray’s Antwerp glory and plans for the remainder of 2020 as well as Jelena Ostapenko’s resurgence and Denis Shapovalov’s maiden title.

What’s on social media
Novak Djokovic winning over the locals.

Nadal just and Djokovic touching down.

And a video of Nadal and Djokovic’s arrival.

If you are not following @behindtheracquet yet, then you should change that as they deliver some pretty inspirational stuff. Here is Rio Olympics gold medallist Monica Puig talking about her struggles.

 

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“I have been clearly struggling for the past three years, dealing with all that pressure and expectation that came after winning gold in the 2016 Olympics. It’s probably been the hardest three years that I’ve ever faced in my entire life. There is a trauma after winning something that major that pushes you flat on your butt. I had an entire country watching me, which was extraordinary, but they didn’t see the darker side. As I became more upset I saw that depression was inevitable when it was tough to get out of bed. At one point you’re on the top of the world and all of a sudden it ends and you just don’t know what just happened. It’s like whiplash. I couldn’t find ways to motivate myself to play. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. There were many times when all I wanted to do was cry every day, in bed, in a dark room. You just continue to question where all your motivation and drive went. That’s when I started realizing that something was wrong and needed to be dealt with. I’m usually, when it comes to my feelings, an introvert, but it’s tough because people normally see me as a social butterfly, very much an extroverted person. When it came to talking about my feelings it wasn’t easy. It was only when I was able to accept it for what it was, that I was able to deal with it. I had to tell myself, ‘Hey I have a little bit of an issue and I need to take care of myself.’ It took a lot of soul searching for me to finally realize that there was something going on and to not think it was just a figment of my imagination. It has taken me until this point now, October 2019, to get my feet back on the ground and find myself back on the right track. All of these moments come with a tremendous amount of self-shame and self-criticism. Social media is also something that has affected me since I’ve received so much backlash and negativity. Everybody’s just always waiting for you to screw up. During these tough times, I’ve really had to rely on my family and my team, that I now have re-established these past five weeks…” @monicaace93 Continue reading full story at behindtheracquet.com

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Katie Boulter finally got to wear her Wimbledon whites.

The venue where Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev will meet in an exhibition match in Mexico.

 

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¿Se imaginan cómo se verá @laplazamexico con 41 mil personas presenciando #TheGreatestMatch?🤩 #BePartOfIt 📸: @jorgereyesh

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What’s on TV
ATP Vienna
LIVE – Amazon Prime Video

ATP Basel
LIVE – Amazon Prime Video

WTA Zhuhai
LIVE – BT Sport 1

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