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Tennis fans have reacted in the affirmative to Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, who has taken issue with what he believes is undermining his son’s achievements after the Serb reached a record 400 weeks as World No. 1.
Djokovic concluded the year as the top-ranked player for a record eight times with 400 weeks atop the ATP Rankings after winning his opener against Holger Rune (7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-3) at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. In addition, he won his seventh ATP Finals title, beating Roger Federer's previous best of six.
In a recent interview with Sportal, Djokovic's father expressed his displeasure with his son's comparisons to Roger Federer and Steffi Graff. He asserted that Djokovic has been the best player in the world for the past 15 years and that people find it difficult to make peace with it.
"For 15 years, he has been the best in the world in all possible categories. And of course, that annoys them all and they are unable to admit that he is the best in the world. Here, for example, Federer was the best for many years with 310 weeks," he said.
"When Novak caught up with him, they invented 'oh, no, Steffi Graf has 370 and something weeks.' Steffi also passed, so they invented 'someone from before the Open era, who has 500 and something weeks'... Well, you want to will it be in those 500 or so weeks? Well, it will be," he added.
Tennis fans were up in arms about Djokovic not being given his due credit. They took to Reddit to vent their disappointment. One fan claimed that the media has always had it out for Djokovic and given him the short end of the stick.
"No lies detected. Media and the establishments always moving the goalpost whenever Djokovic is breaking records. Never have I watched Federer compared to the women's titles or missing Olympic Gold during his dominating era. Such an unfair treatment to the GOAT and arguably the greatest athlete of all sports," they wrote.
Another fan found the Grand Slam title comparison between Djokovic and Margaret Court to be absurd.
"Dumbest shit about this whole season was seeing Novak’s slam titles compared to that of Margaret Court by ESPN, get that BS outta here. All respect to Court and her achievements but no one gives a fuck when you’re talking about men’s grand slam tennis," they commented.
Another fan wrote:
"Who is still arguing about Goat status? I think even Federer and Nadal fans have accepted it except some crazy ones who will never change their stance no matter what happens."
Here are a few more reactions:
Novak Djokovic on playing the Davis Cup right after his 2023 ATP Finals win
In a press conference ahead of the 2023 Davis Cup, which is scheduled from November 21–26 in Malaga, Spain, Djokovic said that he was looking forward to finishing the season on a high note, given his recent form.
“It's the last week of the season, so, you know, one final push is necessary from each one of us, and I'm excited because I have been playing some really good tennis, particularly in the last four months of the season,” he said.
The 36-year-old also wished to translate the energy and performance from the 2023 ATP Finals to winning the Davis Cup for Serbia.
"I couldn't be happier with the way I performed in the semifinals and finals of Torino, so hopefully I'm carrying this kind of, yeah, basically energy and performance level to the Davis Cup,” Djokovic stated.
The Serbian legend expressed his gratitude for being able to represent his country, stating that winning the Davis Cup this year has been his objective since the beginning of the year.
“Yeah, I'm with the team. I'm grateful to be once again in the national team. As I said many months ago, actually the beginning of the season, that Davis Cup, you know, has been and is one of my greatest goals of this season and always is. Yeah, basically hopefully I will be able to contribute to win,” he said.
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