Serbian Olga Danilovic says that Novak Djokovic is very calm off the court and pleasant to deal with. Djokovic, 35, is one of the best players in tennis history and the most successful Serbian athlete. But when Djokovic is around his compatriots, he does “normal things” and doesn’t stand out at all.
“He is very relaxed, a normal guy, like the rest of us. When he finishes the game, the training, we all go to eat. Those are some of the most common things,” Danilovic said on Alesto’s podcast. It’s no secret that Djokovic is the least popular member of the Big Three.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal get much more support in tournaments, and whenever Djokovic plays against those two, he almost always has a full stadium against him. Danilovic recalled the 2019 Wimbledon final, when Djokovic saved two championship points en route to beating Federer in an epic final.
Danilovic was asked if she has noticed that Djokovic is not well liked by the public and if she is bothered by that. “Who hasn’t (noticed)? If that doesn’t bother him, obviously he doesn’t bother him because he plays his best in those moments, neither do I.
I feel sorry because he doesn’t look good to me. I remember when Djokovic saved two match points in the 2019 Wimbledon final and then he was asked about the fans chanting ‘Roger, Roger’ and he said all he heard was ‘Nole, Nole’ I think he’s the only one can do that and that’s why it is what it is today,” added Danilovic.
Djokovic is a former No.1
Novak Djokovic undertook a revolutionary change to his approach to the sport of tennis and life as a whole relatively early on in his career. Explaining the troubles that afflicted him and came to a head at the 2010 Australian Open, Djokovic said: “I was always struggling with respiratory problem, a kind of mild version of asthma and suffocation during the night for many years since I was seven years old.
For some reason, you know, as the time was passing by these allergies were gaining more intensity in terms of the reaction I felt. I eat a lot of fruits for the first part of the day and salads. I don’t like to eat any food that would require too much energy for digestion, especially in the first part of the day because that’s when I need the most energy for my training.
So I’m keeping things quite light and I would have grains like quinoa, wild rice, sweet potato and normal potato, like steamed or boiled”.
