U.S. Open: Novak Djokovic is someone to love
Novak Djokovic returns to Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles final on Day 14 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on July 16. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
Is this the year it finally happens?
Is this the year fans embrace Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open? Is this the year we finally acknowledge that we are watching not just a great player, but very likely the greatest player in the history of the game? Is this the year we forgive Djokovic for not being as lovably feisty as Rafael Nadal or elegantly regal as Roger Federer?
It should be.
Because Djokovic, at age 36, is playing at the top of his game. Not only has he outlasted the two more popular members of the Big 3, he is regularly beating back tennis’ 20-somethings.
Djokovic defeated players more than a decade his junior in the finals of the Australian Open this year. He then ignited what looks to be the hottest May-December rivalry in decades when he lost a five-setter to 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in a grueling Wimbledon Final. Last Sunday, Alcaraz and Djokovic met again in the finals of Cincinnati's Western and Southern Open, and it was Djokovic who emerged the winner, rallying from a set and a break down to win a 3-hour, 49-minute three-set final.
“The way he looks, he looks like he’s going to win multiple Slams more,” tennis great and ESPN commentator John McEnroe said Wednesday of Djokovic. “I feel he could go on for another two, three, four years at this rate. It’s remarkable what we’re watching.”
Should Djokovic win it all at the U.S. Open and pick up his 24th Slam, he would tie Margaret Court for most career Grand Slams. He is currently tied with Serena Williams. That alone, should be enough to win over fans. There’s nothing New Yorkers like more than a winner standing at the precipice of history. This is a town and event that loves to celebrate greatness.
Yet, Djokovic has always had a difficult time in New York. Witness that only three of his Grand Slam titles have come here, while he has won 10 in Australia, the other Grand Slam played on a hardcourt surface.
Djokovic hasn’t won the U.S. Open since 2018 and in his last appearance here he folded under immense pressure. When we last saw Djokovic at the Billie Jean National Tennis Center, he was crying into a towel after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 U.S. Open Final. The win would have given him a rare calendar Grand Slam. It also would have pulled him ahead of Federer and Nadal, who at the time had 20 Grand Slam wins.
Chris Evert, who won six U.S. Open titles, said that the tournament is always a tough one for many players, given that it comes at the end of the year after eight months of playing full time.
“I was starting to get tired at the U.S. Open,” said Evert, a commentator for ESPN. “The only thing that got me going was the crowd. Being American, the crowds really got me going. And the crowds are probably not going to get Novak going here in America because he’s going to play an American or he hasn’t been the most well-received player.”
No, he hasn’t. Yet, part of the problem is of Djokovic’s own making. There are just too many times, on and off the court, where he has lacked sportsmanship, been completely tone deaf or just a little cringy weird.
Early on, he tried to win fans by offering up embarrassing imitations of his fellow players. He made a number of sexist comments over the course of his career, including the fact he thought women’s tennis players didn’t deserve to get paid as much as men. In 2020, he was kicked out of the U.S. Open after accidently hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball he struck in frustration. And last year, he became tennis’ version of Kyrie Irving after he refused to be vaccinated for Covid. Djokovic was both deported from Australia and not allowed into the U.S. Open because of his vaccination status.
Yet, there are signs fans are ready to embrace Djokovic. He enjoyed mammoth crowd support in Cincinnati last week, his first tournament in the U.S. since 2021. There’s nothing the USTA would like to see more than a Alcaraz-Djokovic rematch in this year's finals. The Alcaraz-Djokovic rivalry appears to be a real thing, which is truly amazing considering that Alcaraz, the defending champ, wasn’t even born when Djokovic turned pro.
“It’s a great story,” said McEnroe. “To see the all-time great play against the young superstar is incredible.”
Incredible and something worth cheering for.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
