Andy Roddick believes Novak Djokovic doesn’t receive enough praise for his positive locker room conduct.
Apart from talking about the 24-time major winner, the former US player highlighted how well Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal carry themselves off-court.
Djokovic, Federer and Nadal were referred to as the ATP‘s ‘Big Three’ for nearly three decades from the early 2000s until the 2020s due to their dominance in the game. Federer lifted 20 Grand Slam titles before retiring in 2022, while Nadal has 22 and Djokovic has 24.
Such prestige does not always come with humility, but Roddick explained how he always saw the Big Three were on their best behaviour in the locker room – serving as role models for other players.
In his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick, the former US player explained how the trio acted gracefully, even in the small moments, but he was particularly complimentary of Djokovic’s locker room conduct.
“There are a lot of tour guys who aren’t nearly as good as Rafa, who, I said this about Roger too back in the day, but they will switch their grip tapes out, re-grip, then leave something on the floor and just walk away. It drives me absolutely crazy, they’ll get a stretch from the trainer, get up and not say ‘Thank You’ and walk out. It just drives me crazy.”
“It’s been nice in tennis that two of your top three stewards, including Novak, Novak actually, he doesn’t get enough credit for how friendly he is with people in and around the locker room.”
Roddick also stated that not all players act with the same positive conduct as the Big Three. He believes that such an approach from some of the greatest players of all time is a nice thing to see that speaks of their character as well as their elite tennis ability.
“It’s nice to see that those guys reset the table on, ‘Hey listen, I’m one of the best players of all time, I’m one of the favorites every time I walk into a locker room but there’s also common courtesy involved with the way I go day to day’.”
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
