If you are following the US Open at all, chances are you caught the Novak Djokovic on-court interview post his 4-set takedown of American fan-favorite, Andy Roddick.
While I agree that his words may have been in poor taste, I can't see where people like Chris Mottram are coming from in attacking this move.
Wise decision that was, Novak, to get that outta your system in front of 20,000+ Roddick fans, not to mention the television audience. Alienating Americans is gonna do wonders for your career.
What exactly is going to happen to Novak Djokovic's career because of his statement? Are American teams going to blacklist him? No, there are no teams in tennis. Is he going to be banned from American tournaments? Possibly the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard.
Tennis is not baseball or basketball. As an individual sport, your career in tennis depends solely upon your own ability and does not hinge in any way on the public perception. We've seen countless tennis players with attitude problems become the best players in their generation. John McEnroe was one of the most hated guys on tour in his time, but is now one of the faces of tennis. Even Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters have been known to throw hissy fits after losses, and how much has that affected their careers? Absolutely zero.
Novak Djokovic is 21 years old and already ranked #3 in the world. If he wins the US Open, he goes up to #2. At this stage in his fledging career, I'd would say that he is already the best all-around player in the game, surpassing Federer, and maybe, just maybe, behind Nadal. I don't think one incident where he gets booed by a crowd of Americans is going to change that.
3 comments:
Very thoughtful, had a great time reading your post
That's just stupid. Novak was an idiot to speak up like that, it just wasn't the time. But obviously his career will not be affected that way.
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