The story behind Novak Djokovic's fading popularity

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  • The change in public opinion has coincided with Djokovic's rise.

    There isn’t much of a difference between Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils, really. If, for whatever reason, you had taken a hiatus from tennis after the French Open in 2008, and were just tuning back in now, seeing the pair contesting the first semi-final on Friday wouldn’t remotely surprise you. You would see two of the hottest young prospects in 2008 doing battle at the business end of a Grand Slam eight years on. You might remember Novak Djokovic as the 20-year old boy who made his first Grand Slam final at this very event nine years ago, becoming a darling of the crowd as he fought valiantly against the behemoth that was Roger Federer.

    And Monfils? Of course he’d be here. He was a multiple Junior Slam winner who could make every shot in the book, and then rewrite a chapter or two of his own. He made the semis at Roland Garros at 21, even taking a set off Federer in the process. This would be quite the clash, wouldn’t it? Surely, you would scurry off to tell someone all about it, probably a big tennis fan. But they would have watched all the tennis you missed and, just like that, your assumptions, your excitement would take a beating.

    One has to caution against too many assumptions, especially at this of all Grand Slams. But the inevitability that will loom over this first semi-final, and indeed the remaining few days of this tournament, will be reflected in the difference between the reception afforded Djokovic and Monfils from the New York crowd. It might as well be an academic study of the difference between respect and adoration.

    It isn’t Djokovic’s fault, his lack of Monfils-style popularity, not one jot. This is the same person who, at same tournament in 2007, delighted the crowd with some fairly accurate impressions of fellow tennis players. The ones of Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick left spectators in stitches. He was the boy who loved having fun, and was at the same time too good for most people to handle on a tennis court. He had practiced in empty underground swimming pools as a child while NATO bombs thundered around him. He had braved adversity and was intelligent, likable and talented to boot, the best underdog story in ages. He was the Djoker.

    It is hard to remember where that was lost, but as his tennis began to get better, his popularity seemed to wane, reportedly in the locker room as much as among fans. Andy Roddick recalls an incident when, after a particularly rough defeat at Djokovic’s hands one year at Flushing Meadows, the pair had a locker room fight that needed to be separated. Federer once told the Serb’s family off for being too loud during a match in Monte Carlo. He was, at least early on in his career, deemed too soft, too eager to withdraw from matches if anything was amiss, and was told he wouldn’t be able to win in the Australian Open heat. That was before he became the greatest player that season opening Grand Slam has ever seen.

    And now we come to 2016, a time where he is a contender for the greatest player any Grand Slam has ever seen. Coming off the back of a Novak Slam, his tennis has never been better, and judging by the number of walkovers and retirements he’s benefitted from during his run to the semis, his luck seems to be going through a similar purple patch. In Monfils, he takes on an opponent who has laid claim to the mantle of the most popular player on tour for many years now, but one whom Djokovic has left far behind in tennis terms. The Frenchman is making his first semi-final appearance since that French Open in 2008. He never could reconcile his showmanship with the steel that tennis at the highest level demands, but if this was a popularity contest, Monfils would advance to the final with a walkover of his own.

    With Murray, whom many discerning viewers believed to be the unofficial world number one, out of the picture, vanquished at the hands of another popular competitor in Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Djokovic’s seemingly smooth run to the title looks even more effortless. Nishikori will face Stan Wawrinka in the other semi, a man whose Swiss nationality and single-handed backhand has seen large numbers of Federer fans cheering on the man they see as their hero’s sole adequate replacement.

    There certainly won’t be any shortage of popular players in what is a cracking semi-final line-up in the men’s draw this year, with three of the quartet gunning for their maiden title at Flushing Meadows. If only the Djoker wouldn’t spoil everyone’s party with that tedious combination of charming wit and chanceless tennis.

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