'Learned To Thrive In That Environment': Djokovic On Playing In Front Of Hostile Crowds

Tuesday, 12 December 2023 at 03:15

byNurein Ahmed

Novak Djokovic is not fond of taking shortcuts in life, so he has always embraced facing challenges and adversities.

In his playing career, Djokovic has almost invariably been the player pronounced as the gatecrasher to the duopoly enjoyed by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who built standout reputations as crowd favorites because of their charisma.

Additionally, Djokovic evoked a sense of entitlement, trying too hard to appeal to the masses, which made him less of a darling to tennis fans in the early part of his career.

However, the Serbian star has never lacked personality, aura, or charisma and is actually the second-most followed ATP player on Instagram with over 14 million followers.

Although those numbers haven't quite been complimentary of his star power on a tennis court, Djokovic has always appreciated getting crowd support in his matches.

Because of his resilience and mental toughness, tennis fans have always floated around the myth that Djokovic plays well when the crowd is not cheering for him.

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While the underlying premise is true, Djokovic opined that playing in partisan atmospheres adds so much pressure and can be mentally daunting, so he would prefer playing in friendlier stadiums.

Furthermore, he states that he relished playing in front of hostile crowds because he had no other option but to learn how to thrive there.

"The amount of pressure and stress is so much higher if you have crowd against you. But (laugh) for most of my career, it was mostly hostile environments for me. I kind of learned how to thrive in that environment."

— Djokovic during an interview on 60 Minutes

"And people think that it's actually better if, if they don't like me so that it kind of gets the best out of me in terms of tennis. It did happen. But at the same time, I actually enjoy more (laugh) being in environment where, you know, I have nice, nice support."