Novak Djokovic was once a young man, and according to former ATP player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, he struggled with finding himself.
When Djokovic entered the world of professional tennis, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were established players. Both of them are similar players in the way they approach tennis – highly professional and highly uncontroversial.
Djokovic is a bit different by nature, and it rubbed people the wrong way. He simply didn’t fit what people wanted him to be, and for a while, he struggled with it.
According to Tsonga, who was coming up at the same time as the Serbian, Djokovic wanted to be like Federer and Nadal early on in his career before finally embracing himself as he is.
I consider that he had a period where he didn’t want to be himself. He wanted to be Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, when perhaps he should have remained himself all along. I think today he is himself.
It’s an interesting comment by Tsonga, who grew up with Djokovic on the ATP Tour and lost to him in the Australian Open final many years ago.
It was the first Grand Slam Djokovic would win, and we all know what would happen after. Embracing himself was crucial for Djokovic because it’s what so many end up respecting the most.
And even if it is divisive, I think that’s why it is appreciated by many people. Because now he’s completely honest.
Speaking further on the Generation Do It Yourself podcast, Tsonga paid credit to Djokovic for the way he approaches things because it’s quite inspirational. There are many lessons players can learn from the example of Djokovic but most importantly – embrace yourself.
He doesn’t do things to be appreciated. He does things because he considers that they deserve to be done that way. We gain a lot from being ourselves.
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