Two years ago, Novak Djokovic was the star on the rise. Brighter than Juan Martin del Potro, certainly much brighter than Sam Querrey, Djokovic stepped up his game getting to the semifinals of the French Open, the semifinals of the Wimbledon, the finals of the US Open, and winning the Australian Open in 2008.
Djokovic, one must say, is a bit of a ham. He does a wide array of impersonations (as does Andy Roddick). He’s made risque ads and modeled underwear on the catwalk. This guy doesn’t have a great deal of modesty.
In 2007, he did his impersonations of Rafa and Maria Sharapova, and the audiences lapped it up. Djokovic also enjoyed this attention at the heady young age of 20, a man barely out of his teens.
Everything changed in 2008, a year later. Novak Djokovic had a fourth round match against Spaniard, Tommy Robredo. During the match, Djokovic made repeated calls to the trainer, and Robredo, bitter of these tactics which he was sure was not due to injury but due to lack of fitness, complained about Djokovic’s behavior.
Djokovic’s health was a matter of reporter fodder, and questions about Djokovic were asked to Andy Roddick, his quarterfinal opponent. Roddick’s humor has always been dry. When asked if he thought Djokovic was faking, Roddick left it open to question, saying he must come back from illness pretty quick, and having all sorts of illnesses, like SARS. Roddick’s humor always verges on edgy where he jokes but there’s sometimes a jab.
Somehow, word got back to Djokovic, so after a four set win over Roddick, Djokovic decided to use the bully pulpit and say he didn’t appreciate Roddick’s comments, which he thought was an affront to his integrity. Two things happened. First, it’s never a good idea to criticize an American at the US Open. The audience will get on your back. Many folks had not heard the interview, so it was a seemingly meaningless attack on a good guy. For those who had heard the interview, many wondered how Djokovic could dish out impersonations, but not take it.
Although the matter was quickly resolved in the press room, few people heard the post-match interview, and so coming into the semifinals, Djokovic seemed a bit off, and Roger Federer took full advantage.
Since then, Djokovic has become more low key. He mostly stopped the impersonations, though he did bust it out at Rome for the Italians who wanted to hear it.
Last night, Djokovic played an evening match against Radek Stepanek. Stepanek had historically given Djokovic problems. He has a wide variety of shots and is one of the few players that serves and volleys, at least, from time to time. However, Stepanek was not on his game at all. Maybe this was due to Djokovic’s play. Maybe it was Stepanek just having a bad day at the office. Whatever the reason, the match ended quickly, and the audience had not had its fill.
Darren Cahill did the post-match interview. Djokovic quickly did some PR, thanking the audience for coming out. Djokovic had added Todd Martin to his coaching staff, and Cahill asked Todd Martin to come down for a hit, but Martin demurred. Novak then asked Johnny Mac, up in the commentary booth, to come on down. Mac proceeded to remove his tie and audio equipment, work his way downstairs, pick up a racquet and some shoes, and play in a button-down white shirt, and long pants.
As he was heading down, Djokovic did a Johnny Mac impersonation. The two then played a few for-fun points, and the audience loved it. The audience who had turned on him a year ago seemed ready to embrace him again, and the ESPN crew seemed agreeable to helping Djokovic out realizing the more top stars that the audiences like, the better it is for tennis.
Djokovic is still making steady progress to the latter rounds. Originally slated to meet Andy Roddick, he now faces hard hitting lefty, Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic’s team hopes memories are short and a good amount of apologizing will endear him to the crowds, especially the American crowds.
