07-15-2019, 11:29 PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/48981819
Tennis fans must "wake up to the greatness" of Novak Djokovic after he won his 16th Grand Slam, says his former coach Boris Becker.
Serbia's Djokovic, 32, won his fifth Wimbledon title by beating Centre Court favourite Roger Federer in a classic.
Victory in the longest ever Wimbledon singles final moved him closer to Federer's men's record of 20 major triumphs. Rafael Nadal, with 18, separates the pair.
Djokovic struggled to win over a pro-Federer crowd, who clapped some of his misses and jeered him at one point during a tense final set.
"It triggered him to fight in the fifth set," said Becker, who coached Djokovic between 2013 and 2016.
To be honest, I don't think Djokovic has a 'respect' problem: even if they don't support him, pretty much every tennis fan I encounter respects him, and considers him to be one of the greats.
It is true that he isn't loved, in the way that Federer is (at least, by the Centre Court crowd at Wimbledon). However, I think that's in large part due to Federer being the 'elder statesman' of men's tennis: he's won more titles and been around for longer, and he's in the twilight of his career. Once he's retired, I fully expect the affection towards Federer will be transferred to Djokovic. (Sure, he might have to share it with Nadal if he's still playing, but even so, his time will come !)
Tennis fans must "wake up to the greatness" of Novak Djokovic after he won his 16th Grand Slam, says his former coach Boris Becker.
Serbia's Djokovic, 32, won his fifth Wimbledon title by beating Centre Court favourite Roger Federer in a classic.
Victory in the longest ever Wimbledon singles final moved him closer to Federer's men's record of 20 major triumphs. Rafael Nadal, with 18, separates the pair.
Djokovic struggled to win over a pro-Federer crowd, who clapped some of his misses and jeered him at one point during a tense final set.
"It triggered him to fight in the fifth set," said Becker, who coached Djokovic between 2013 and 2016.
To be honest, I don't think Djokovic has a 'respect' problem: even if they don't support him, pretty much every tennis fan I encounter respects him, and considers him to be one of the greats.
It is true that he isn't loved, in the way that Federer is (at least, by the Centre Court crowd at Wimbledon). However, I think that's in large part due to Federer being the 'elder statesman' of men's tennis: he's won more titles and been around for longer, and he's in the twilight of his career. Once he's retired, I fully expect the affection towards Federer will be transferred to Djokovic. (Sure, he might have to share it with Nadal if he's still playing, but even so, his time will come !)
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