Frenchie shouldn't feel so bad. the Croatian guy got obliterated in the semifinals. maybe frenchie's endorsements got to his head. I mean, everything Nike? and why did Nike feminize Federer by making him wear all white and pink? Gay Pride? He just ended up being a wiener instead of a winner. At least he can serve them on his 2nd place serving tray. Go Novak!

https://www.youtube.com/wat... 'nuff said!

If you LOVE Tennis as a sport ... not for the person playing it, then you will probably warm to Roger Federer. His technique, fitness and range of shots makes for great watching. Winning tournaments with a 150mph serve every time wouldn't make you "loved, much like Novaks solid defence and dominance from the baseline.

If you are all about the results, then you could argue that Novak is probably going to be the greatest ever. Roger is simply one for the Tennis purists.

DRY TENNIS TIMES

Federer opponents first 10 slam wins

Philippoussis

Marat Safin

Andy Roddick

Lleyton Hewitt

Andy Roddick

Andre Agassi

Marcos Baghdatis

Rafael Nadal

Andy Roddick

Fernando González

Djokovic opponents first 10 slam wins

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Andy Murray

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Andy Murray

Roger Federer

Andy Murray

Roger Federer

Roger Federer

"Slightly" different standard of opposition, would you not say...:)

Brilliant and great observation. I LIKE IT!!!

Looks like the GOAT can not score in the presence of another great!

He is always on the second position,..and they call him GOAT??

Well,.. 70% of his GOAT-ness he collected against this bunch:

Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Fernando González, David Nalbandian, James Blake, David Ferrer

GOAT(Federer)
has NEGATIVE score H2H with another GREAT Djokovic and Nadal (please do
not forget shameful retreat from WTF they do not count as win)

When Novak was "novice"(Nadal as well) and Fed won,..no one said how Novak is inexperienced and young,...but how Fed is "great Maestro" ,....true??
Count GOATs' GS from emerging Nadal and Djokovic. That is his real potential
and quality,..everything before against that bunch mentioned above is
'Dry Tennis Times"

Even if your not a fan of Federer people respect him for his skills and the way he conducts himself, the same cannot be said about Novak he is not as likeable and has more of nasty streak. Thats why at Wimbledon and the US open final fans wanted Federer to win as people want the good guy to win! Its a shame Federer has been playing well but gave away that us open and the last 2 wimbledons hope he gets at least one more slam

You got that good guy/bad guy a little upside down. I never heard of Federer's humanitarian donations. You have also to distinguish Wimbledon where the fans cheered for Federer in a civilized way and the horrible crowd at the US open.

This is tennis, not a hollywood movie. There's no good or bad guy, there are two tennis players and it is inevitable that the better player will win. Obiously, Novak is the better tennis player. Federer did not give away the title, he just wasn't playing well enough to beat Novak and that's a fact!!

I actually hope that the fans keep treating him the same way in the future. Every time they do, he gets pissed off and wins the match right in their face. So keep on hating Novak folks, and help him win 17+ grand slams... This is Spartaaaaaaa baby yeah!!!

Excellent article. Djokovic has let himself down with his early antics like pretend injuries, making foolish comments and his mom declaring foolishly in 2009 about Federer "The King is dead, long live the king!" Add to that RF's ballet styled but aggressive style which compares to Djoko's robotic machine like counter-punching style of play. Only an idiot will be mystified as to why RF is so much more appreciated!!

Well put Novak does not make himself likeable with the way he conducts himself also his boring wear the other guy down tactics compared to the skills and flair of Federer makes Fed more appealing

REALLY?? What article i just read??? SMH.. This is a propaganda against Novak. Novak is a great champion. He won the match fair and square.You need to respect his big achievements so far. The writer is clearly one of the butthurt fans who can't accept that Novak played better than Roger. The crowd were rude, making noise while Novak's serving, even clapped when Novak fall on the first set. Everyone has right to support their fav players, but at the same time they should respect other player and be true tennis fans

Djokovic just loves his homeland - Serbia and that doesnt mean he hate others. Been nationalist is to love your country, nothing wrong about that. Djokovic always appreciate his opponents and never underestimate them - that is his recipe for being world No1. And he will stay world champ no matter how many articles like this one will be published to diminish his success!

So, Charlie Eccleshare noticed the entire crowd was against Novak all evening and still couldn't interpret Novak pointing to himself -- and then his box -- as anything other than "I'm the man?" I have to believe that despite the coke-bottle glasses, Chuck, you saw to whom he was looking (and again, then pointing) when he gestured (midly, might I add) to himself. Try this interpretation and see if it doesn't make a bit more sense:

"Yep, me. And you. Just us. Against all these ignorant, low-class twits cheering my service faults all night. And together, we overcame them all." Well, I suppose one more ignorant, low-class twit completely missing and then mischaracterizing what the moment was about is just another drop in the bucket.

Edit: If you're going to edit people's posts nanny-state style (apparently brits consider the word for sticking oneself with a needle too "naughty?"), at least make them sound coherent when you're through.

" His reaction to winning the title on Sunday was................ “I’m the man”. "
That's cause he does a man, you know.. Someone is so obviously jealous that it even
physically hurts him. Oh, you sweety sweaty journalist, how small you are...Wish you to.. you know.. become ... A MAN!

why do I feel this article is one sided? and more rude towards Djokovic?

Djokovic is disliked by many because he's a Serbian nationalist. a thinly-disguised Arcan type. Or they believe he's only attained his pre-eminence in tennis through juicing. Or they don't like him because he beats up everyone's favourite player, Federer. I like him because, apart from the fact he's good at what he does, he also displays a sense of humour which most tennis players seem to lack.

thinly guised arkan type???? he's the guy that after winning the title in Rome donated all the proceeds to victims of flooding of all nationalities in the balkans. hardly nationalist type behaviour.

I see a lot of Slavic people here who are really INSECURE.

People love Federer because his tennis is classic. His shots are aesthetically perfect and just very classic. People were jeering Djokovic simply because he was playing against Federer.

People dislike Djokovic as much as they dislike/disliked Isner, Roddick, Berdych, etc, etc. All of these players have 1 quality in common: they are not charismatic.

Djokovic is not charismatic. It has nothing to do with nationality. I mean, most people don't even know where Djokovic is from.

Djokovic is not charismatic??? This is a very funny comment. Djokovic is the most charismatic tennis player. Nadal and Federer are very boring and do not know how to relax and have some fun. The beauty of Djokovic's charisma comes from the fact that when he jokes, laughs and talks, he leaves an impression of a down to earth guy with whom everyone can be a pal. Federer and Nadal are the people with the unreachable and non approachable attititude... I am sorry but please do a bit more research and get to know other people before you judge them.

INSECURE???:):)
What insecure is in that if someone tells you strait as it is?
You are so wrapped in your web of lies and "political correctness", that STRAIT talk you can not bear anymore!

You know what societies are most rotten??
Those with most Laws for everything and anything
sound familiar ..??

insecure..:)!?

I think you just proved his point. Well done

You only prove that you are in lack of argument

'The Crowd" simply hates "Slavic People"
Do not piss on our back, saying its just summer rain.
You can "paint it" that latent racism with "cynical political correctness" as much as you want, but people around the World are not crazy or stupid.
"The Crowd" hated Ivan Lendl as well,.....
Telegraph is trying to cower for the most disgusting display of NY cattle (can't be called differently),..
Last night is the living proof what "hi level" rednecks are living in NY

or MAYBE Novak, despite his great tennis, is not charismatic.

NY is a cosmopolitan city, there were people there from all over the world.

he's got plenty of charisma and has been entertaining crowds in ways federer or nadal could never ever do. so what's your next excuse?

Oh really:):)
Like servants are from all around World too. Even Romans knew that 2000 years ago! Roma was the most cosmopolitan city even 2000 years ago:):)
You really think that people are that stupid,..don't you?!
They would bear Djokovic as they bear their servants,..to some point "and place servant deserve", but if servant overcome their expectation,..he needs to be put "at his place back"
Pure racism!

400 years of slavery, colonialism,..if you are so human, first return all you collected pillaging around, than ACT HUMAN
It's in you,..you just CONTAIN IT

The only different thing is that people on East when they do not like something or someone, they say that openly,...you cynically "paint black" that something or someone with notion "how humanitarian you are" in your cynicism and fascism

That last night is just the tip of iceberg

Simply put, if his name was John Johnson, he'd rule! And perhaps if he had Nike behind him, not some "unknown" Japanese brand... And all his "downsides" would actually be marketed differently. I don't think that anyone cares if he were Serbian per se, but some Eastern European, yes, it's annoying to the Anglo-Saxon media establishment. Everyone forgets about "Mopey Murray", his cursing and whining, his 100+ shouted four-letter words at RG semis... Federer made so many gestures and inappropriate comments over the years, but that's either ignored or spun to his advantage... Djokovic makes one gesture and gets eaten alive... Yes, he was annoying as a youngster, but truly overcame it all. Now, left without arguments, they go "he has no class", and "Fed is all class". The crowd at the USO Finals was terrible, cheering at his missed first serves (that's low even for the Davis Cup standards), jeering his good points... So the author's point about "special tennis crowd" only applies to the countries dominated by the media that scrutinize Novak. Even the author points out to single acts as if Novak simply must be stone-faced. And when he's stone-faced like yesterday, that's bad too, because he's then "a self-loving jerk". When Nadal jumps like a sugar-drugged teenager, it's all good. Novak thumps his chest - eat him alive...

I personally distrust him because of his suspicious improvement in stamina. Same suspicions I have about Nadal.

Like Nadal, Djokovic is somehow able to play 5 hours in a semi and the next day play 5 hours again....but hey, right, it was the gluten...sure.

Yes its OK if Roger can do it, but if Djokovic does it he must be taking drugs. BTW how old is Roger now 34, and he still plays as if 25 year old, that is very suspicious to me!

Djokovic has shown improvement in stamina, because he has changed his diet, improved the way he lives and trains, he also took gluten out of his diet which is what was making him sick in past due to allergy he has (fact writer completely ignores). He genuinely worked on him self and has achieved something amazing, why is this is making you so jealous? In fact he wrote a book about it, read it, it might do you some good.

couldn't agree more...I've always been suspicious of Rafa; I'd bet my house he was on the infamous list of Dr Fuentes...Djok too has had some ridiculous improvements in stamina

And then again, with Federer everything must've been completely OK, right? Because he.... well, he is Federer. Nothing but the simple case of blind idolatry. Nah, reading all this, I figured how desperately pointless this whole discussion is. What I still can't comprehend is how on earth Arthur Ashe get his hands on the racquet and do what he did back in the seventies, they even named a stadium after him for crying out loud.

One of the reasons Novak is not more liked are articles like this one, repeating over and over Roddick's disgusting commentaries. Also, always choosing Novak's picture when he is angry (never one when he applauds his adversary, which other players seldom do), but Federer's and Nadal's picture when they smile (finding such pictures of Nadal is not so easy)

Connors beloved? By his parents maybe.

That type of personality (defiant, angry, arrogant) is never liked in tennis.

Djokovic just doesn't look like a person you like.

Don't take me wrong , I played college tennis, I watch a lot of it, I'm no stranger to the personalities on tour.

Djokovic is a good guy. He looks like a bad guy. Maybe it's his bog-brush hair, maybe it's his face, maybe it's the fact that he's denying Federer (and Nadal) any more majors, whatever it is it's not his level of play and it's not his personality, so don't worry about it.

He's in a golden era, not only that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all feature in the top 5 of all time, but that they're all genuinely decent people. The fact he came along third, is the least photogenic and just, you know, *seems* like the least likable of the three shouldn't get him down.

Most tennis fans recognize he's a decent guy, the best returner of all time, and a hell of a player, a fantastic player.

OK. so what was Moika's problem: She looked mean too when she was 16-17 and winning all these slams, or Lendl He looked to Slavic too? Martina last name sounded like bad people?

Wow!

Just one thing to article writer!! If u are such a professional player you should leave the player with his instincts instead of commenting on him and calling him fake!!! Real professionalism is right now what Novak is showing by caring for the people around him and helping lot of children to educate as well as sponsoring serbia for olympics!!! So dont write these bullshit articles to ignite the feelings of other losers who start to think Novak is nothing again!!! He won ten titles and it isnt a djoke!!! So respect him if you can and try to post positive articles!!!

Wow, you need to calm down, you cry baby. It's an opinion piece and he has a right to write what he pleases.

Go silence your own self, you silly fan boy.

...oh, and Djokovic is a vindictive, resentful, insecure guy (and great tennis player), deal with it.

Wow, who is being "cry baby" now, have a guess his nick starts with arthur. You need to come down man, chill, take a pill, before your eyeballs pop out.

Djokovic is one of the greatest tennis players of all time if not the greatest. He is a great father, friend, person and genuine humanitarian, and nothing some low life "insecure" whiner writes will ever change that.

BTW. Great irony there you are telling Krishna that he should respect someones right to write as he pleases while ordering him to be quiet. Sounds to me like you should respect his right to write as he pleases. If you can't handle what people will write about you don't write about them in the first place!

Charlie Eccleshare would do well to reflect more deeply on the cultural stereotypes he reproduces in his text. Tennis is far from a politically innocent game. It has much to do with a certain kind of habitus that occasionally borders sheer cultural racism. An aristocratic, "white sport" in which the success of a "savage" Balkan boy is inevitably perceived as intrusion. Just analyze the media coverage of Novak, starting from the BBC Tennis. The enormous degree of bias simply stuns me.

This is bugging me for a some time and last night was perfect example. This articular and one in New York Times 2 weeks ago are bringing this issue upfront, but this is bugging No1eFam for a long time and i see in these comments that we are out in big numbers to correct this article.

What i just read is typical way to justify feeling that you have when you know that they are compliantly based on something that you are not proud off.

Real answer to this question should be looked into Marketing research for big endorsement company's like Nike, Adidas, etc. I'm sure that they did research and find out why they do not have No1e as a client. Why he has biggest contracts with Asian companies? I'm sure that Nike and others would love to have 4 year Number 1 in a world and somebody that plays all finals with their logo. I'm sure they know FACTS!!!!

What I see, and some other comments talked about it, is Western culture have this dislike (nicely called) for Slavic - Eastern European people. They do believe that they have no ability to be equal or better then Western European. They will like people who are funny and talented, but not able to sustain high level of professionalism (Likes of Safin, Ivanisevic, Dimitov, Kafelnikov, etc), but when you run into somebody who wants to and is able to sustain high level of performance and show that they are better, well then they are not liked (Lendel, Navratilova, Monika Seles). Exceptions are good looking girls (Sherapova, Ivanovic etc). Ivan, Monika and Navratilova made sure that they renounce their Nationality and all become American, and that was a time that people on a West started to like them.
One more example is how New York fans hated defending Champion Marin Cilic in his match with Tsonga in this years US Open. He got so mad that he start celebrating same way as No1e does ("in your face").

No1e's problem is that he is Serbian and that he likes being Serbian. His Patriotism is just bugging Western fans. If he changed his Citizenship i'm sure that people would change their view too, but i hope that he doesn't do that stay true to him self!

Some points missed in this article are to show how wrong and uneducated Andy Rodick and P(h)ederer were with comments about No1e's health. Ones he found source of the issue and found a way to mange it, he completed all his matches. That would need to be pointed out if you talk about Andy and Roger calling him a "fake". Maybe it should point out that they do not have Medical Degree and their comments were STUPID.
One more point: Nole is LOVED in Asia and other parts of the world. Some southern European Counties that are not home to Nadal, love No1e too.
So next time you try to do this analyses, please take a mirror first before I give you F (school grade) for your work.

Most people (in the US at least) don't even know where Serbia is.

It's more likely that you have a chip on your shoulder about your nationality. And by the way, i've visited Serbia, liked the people just fine, and don't really care much for Djokovic.

I totally agree that people here in US (And yes i'm US citizen) are as ignorant as you describe them. So, we are on same page.
This is exactly what i tried to describe in my comment and i do use other Slavic players like Croatians, Czechs, Russians etc. So it not Serbian issue it is Ignorance that is a problem and some unexplained hate/dislike for anybody that has "Russian sounding name".
Thanks for proving my point!

Indeed, geography is an area of particular ignorance in a country now widely known for it's ignorance of the outside world in general. But somehow, despite being born here in the US and a white, western-looking male, I have held Djokovic as my favorite player since 2010. I cheer for him the way a lot of FedFans do for Federer. Sometimes I can't even watch his matches live as I'm too nervous.

Growing up, the favorite players in my household were Ivan Lendl and Monica Seles. Which seems to make me and my family a rare exception (we're of Nordic descent, FYI). My mother and father loved Lendl because of his professionalism as compared to the disrespectful and wild John McEnroe, whom they felt gave Americans a bad name (we're all actually big fans of his now that he's commentating). They loved Seles for challenging Graf and just generally being a sweetheart (her stabbing rather supports your concept of how the western tennis establishment simply cannot stomach a Slav beating their golden-haired heroes).

But for me, one reason I liked Novak was because I felt he was (and clearly still is) misunderstood and unfairly maligned. How could someone *not* be defiant to such a rude, classless crowd like the one in New York last night? Cheering faults? If Federer wanted to *really* be a class-act, he'd shame that crowd for their behavior. Perhaps something to this effect: "I love and appreciate all your support, but please; be respectful to Novak and don't celebrate his faults and errors)." But let's face it, NY has always been a low-class town and the US Open a low-class venue. The people living there believe it to be the center of the civilized world, but it takes more than a large population and a developed infrastructure to be truly *civilized*.

Federer is a Russian sounding name.

Please, stop, you're embarrassing us, educated Americans.

Arturo Belano is a Russian sounding name.

Wait. Does my ignorance not make that statement true? Darn. Nevermind.

It could sound Rissian to somebody that i describe in my comment.