Novak Djokovic never enjoyed the popularity of his fellow Big Three members Rafael Nadal and Djokovic and former player Marion Bartoli shared her thoughts on why that might be.
It's a rather well-known fact that Novak Djokovic is not the most popular tennis player on the ATP Tour. While respected mainly among his peers, fan support has been somewhat spotty. It affected him greatly earlier on in his career, but lately, he's mostly used as fuel while continuing to make history.
In fairness, the Serbian didn't really help himself by being unapologetically himself and never compromising on his views and stances.
It was something completely different from what we saw before. This starkly contrasts Nadal and Federer, who have largely avoided controversy and kept their personal views to themselves. Even so, former player Bartoli thinks much of that popularity difference is due to timing.
It was more the timing than anything. If you talk to all the players and fans around the world, people like Novak's personality and have a lot of respect for his game. Roger [Federer] speaks elegance, Rafa [Nadal], on the other hand, was considered a fighter who won 14 times at Roland Garros. But nobody likes the third party [Djokovic].
While he's not the most popular, he is among those most respected. You can't love tennis and not appreciate what he was able to do and in what era. The respect is essentially what he most craved out of the fans, and he's getting it slowly.
I think he's gained everyone's respect, but when it comes to love it's a little different. It's just human nature to cheer for one or the other and you don't want the third.
I think when he ends his career, he will most likely be the one with the most Grand Slam wins and also the one who has achieved everything else.
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