“Like It or Not,” the sign defiantly read. “Greatest of All Time.”
Indeed, not everyone is happy that Djokovic has a chance on Sunday to capture his record 21st major title and break a three-way tie with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
Throughout his seemingly inexorable march into history, he has remained third behind his longtime rivals in the hearts of many tennis fans.
During the two-week tennis major, the 34-year-old renewed his up-and-down relationship with the New York crowd, by turns imploring fans for more support and appearing frustrated when he failed to get it.
“Obviously, you always wish to have crowd behind you, but it’s not always possible,” he said after his first-round match, when the fans got behind his underdog opponent, Danish teenager Holger Rune. It’s a familiar position for Djokovic, who for all his accolades has not earned the unqualified adulation that Nadal, and, especially, Federer, enjoy. In conversations with dozens of fans during the Open, virtually all said they preferred either the Swiss or the Spaniard, even those who admire Djokovic’s game.
“We’re Djoker haters,” said Brian King, 55, whose Federer hat and T-shirt – despite the fact that Federer is not playing in New York – left little doubt about his allegiance. “Obviously, you always wish to have crowd behind you, but it’s not always possible,” he said after his first-round match, when the fans got behind his underdog opponent, Danish teenager Holger Rune.
It’s a familiar position for Djokovic, who for all his accolades has not earned the unqualified adulation that Nadal, and, especially, Federer, enjoy. In conversations with dozens of fans during the Open, virtually all said they preferred either the Swiss or the Spaniard, even those who admire Djokovic’s game. “We’re Djoker haters,” said Brian King, 55, whose Federer hat and T-shirt – despite the fact that Federer is not playing in New York – left little doubt about his allegiance.
