For a very long time in his career, Novak Djokovic tried to appease everybody, but by now, he's done with that, according to former player Justine Henin.
The Belgian counts herself as one of the biggest Djokovic fans among the former players. She's always been quite fond of his style of play and has talked about him positively since the start of his career.
As an avid tennis follower, Henin is glad to see Djokovic abandoning his pursuit of trying to appease everyone. Early on in his career, Djokovic was visibly bothered by not being as popular as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
He was the villain, the person who disturbed the perfect tennis rivalry by inserting himself into the equation. It bothered him, and he admitted it, but by now, he's comfortable with it, and Henin loves to see it.
We know that it is not always pleasant to have the public who, all of a sudden, become hostile and support the opponent. And very intelligently, he cuts short what is happening and at the same time he remobilizes himself. He has a lot of experience at this level.
But I still think that in relation to this question of the public, he is distancing himself more and more. He is no longer there to please (the public), he is there to play and win, and, I think, that by finally doing so, it still appeals to a lot of people.
There are very few players who played against hostile crowds as much as Djokovic did, so his long list of achievements looks even better when you put it into perspective.
It often fueled him and also helped him with simply treating tennis as a business. Get on the court, smash the opponent, and get off the court with some boos. Rinse and repeat.
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