John McEnroe has always been very outspoken, and the American have now blasted fans for how they treated Novak Djokovic over the years.
Djokovic is second only to Roger Federer in Wimbledon performances. He’s won seven trophies, one less than the Swiss Maestro’s eight, but he’s never been as beloved as Federer in London.
For most of the finals Djokovic played in London, he played against his opponent and the crowd. They didn’t want him to win, which was diametrically different from how everybody cheered for Federer.
The clearest example was back in 2019 when Djokovic bested Federer in an iconic final where he saved match points. McEnroe, who backed Djokovic more than once is greatly disappointed by how the Serbian has been treated by the crowd over the years.
‘Both of those guys, Rafa and Roger, they are total class acts. They are loved and respected around the world. Novak gets the unfair treatment. ‘He’s the villain, the bad guy.
‘I guess you need a good guy and a bad guy in a way. It can help the sport when you have rivalries like that. ‘I think it’s been unfair, honestly, because he is great for the game. On and off the court.’
McEnroe has great respect for Djokovic’s ability to navigate the hostile environment. He’s faced something similar in his tennis career and didn’t deal with it nearly as well as Djokovic did, which is why he thinks the Serbian needs to be respected more by the fans.
‘He’s been able to do something that I wasn’t able to do nearly as well which is turning lemons into lemonade. ‘You know, when people want to see the underdog or someone else winning, he somehow uses that as fuel to help him. That’s an incredible quality which you can’t underestimate.’
