John McEnroe has launched a staunch defence of Novak Djokovic following his latest triumph at Wimbledon. The Serbian overcame the challenge of Nick Kyrgios to win for the seventh time on Centre Court and collected his 21st Grand Slam title in the process.
The 35-year-old has not always received the best reception from fans over the years, especially when competing against the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. In an interview with GQ, the American mentioned how Daniil Medvedev handled the US Open crowds when they booed him in 2019, and the audiences who jeered him in Australia earlier this year.
The Russian embraced the responses and handled them relatively well, whereas Djokovic feels aggrieved that he does not receive the same level of love as his fellow greats of the game. McEnroe leapt to his defence and criticised those who boo the the reigning Wimbledon champion or perhaps do not give him the respect he deserves.
“That was a gutsy thing to do because you don't want everyone in the New York audience booing against you. But he (Medvedev) did a fantastic job, and then he won the crowd over in the finals, through his effort, which is fantastic,” McEnroe said. “And then they loved him, pretty much, last year. Now it’s bothering him, which is more normal. It's catching up to him. There’s only so long you can go that way.
“If you watch the match against Nadal in Australia, 90 per cent of the people were for Nadal, because they love Nadal. But he didn't get that. He didn't deserve that, nor did Djokovic deserve it at the French [Open]. When they played, they were booing him when he came out. Djokovic, you may not like him as much as Nadal or Federer, but he's a credit to our game for God's sakes.”
Having experienced a lack of support at times during his career, the 63-year-old expressed his desire to give advice to any current players who may be going through similar experiences. “I would speak to any of them if they wanted to. It's obviously a different time,” the seven-time grand slam champion added. “For the most part, these guys do great and handle themselves. It would be instructive for some of these guys to talk about it."
Some of Djokovic’s outbursts on court, such as smashing his rackets, along with the ill-fated 2020 Adria Tour and decision to remain unvaccinated have contributed to many negative reactions Djokovic has received. In the GQ interview, McEnroe commented on whether players should be allowed to be more expressive on court and even show anger.
“I don't think anyone would be surprised that's where I stand on that, based on my history, but particularly in a one-on-one game, you need to express yourself," he said. "I don't defend if you throw a racket and hit somebody, that's a different story. But if you throw it on the ground and it's not going to hit anyone.
“There are obviously levels where I went too far and I was penalised, punished, fined and took a lot of heat. And there were times when they took pot shots at me unfairly. But generally, these players are incredibly well-behaved. I'm more like the normal guy that gets frustrated and pissed off when they play. The abnormal guy to me is boring. The guy that never showed any expression. How the hell do you do that? That's far more difficult to do than what I did.”
