Novak Djokovic turned in one of his most impressive, gratifying and Zen-like performances to take down Roger Federer for his 10th Grand Slam title on Sunday night in New York, and he did it in spite of a pro-Federer crowd that crossed the threshold that divides supportive and unnecessarily rude on many occasions. But the Serb did not let it rattle him on his way to victory. Though many on Twitter thought the New York crowd was downright nasty, Djokovic said they’re entitled to their opinions and, he added, he was prepared for them before the match.
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“Regarding the crowd, look, I mean, you know, there was a lot of support for Roger,” Djokovic said. “There was some for me. I mean, for sure, I tried to focus on the ones that were supporting me.
Djokovic, who has now faced Federer—and many pro-Federer crowds—42 times, says it was logical that they got behind the Swiss and tried to will him to an 18th major title.
“I can't, you know, sit here and criticize the crowd,” he said. “On the contrary, you know, I think it's logical to expect that a great player and a champion like Roger has the majority of the support anywhere I play him. You know, I would say super majority of places around the world are going to give him that support. Now, percentage-wise, more or less, I don't know. I'm not there to judge who is supporting more or less. I'm there to play tennis.”
It’s freedom of choice, said Djokovic. And in the end, not that important to him.
“I accept the fact,” he said. “You know, everybody has a choice to support a player that they want to support, and he absolutely deserves to have the support he does because of all the years and success that he had and the way he carries himself on and off the court. No question about it. Me, I'm there to earn the support, and hopefully in the future I can be in that position.
Here are some of the poignant comments that were made about the crowd during the match on Twitter. Many feel that the loud, boisterous support was fine, but the repetitive cheering when Djokovic missed first serves was a tad offensive.
Djokovic, to his credit, took a very mature approach to the crowd and to the match. He was focused from the onset, and never let his mind wander or did anything to incite the crowd. Instead he let his tennis—which was sublime—do the talking.
“I mean, if we had this conversation maybe five years ago, you know, situation would be probably different,” Djokovic said. “Because as I said, I'm a more experienced player and I have been in these situations before. I have played Roger over 40 times, and a lot of times in final stages of Grand Slams.”
He added: “I know how that feels, you know, regarding the crowd and support and everything. With that on my mind, I came on the court aware that this is going to be the, you know, reality. There's not much I can do about it. You know, I just need to try to focus on what I need to do and my game plan and try to execute it in the best possible way. That's where I keep my focus.”
Federer, who was behind the 8-ball all night, admitted that he cherished the support, calling it a “goosebump moment.” “They were unbelievable tonight,” he said. “Were they better than ever? Possibly. Was it louder than ever? Maybe. It was unreal… I don't consider that normal… I felt like I was sort of up in the score, they kept me going, and that's definitely one of the reasons I still keep playing, because of these moments, goose bump moments. It's great.”