At some point, sports villains do eventually become fan favorites if they persevere long enough. Fans eventually grow to respect and even adore the person who once bore their ire if they rise above the partisanship of sports fandom to the ethereal place of sports legendry. Such is the case for Novak Djokovic, arguably the greatest tennis player in history, winning 24 majors over a span that included some of the sport’s best. Yet despite his aptitude, he repelled much of the tennis fan base because of his often antagonistic persona, including his controversial and ego centric actions during Covid, which actually got him deported from Australia in 2022. So even though people acknowledged he might be the best to ever take the court, they still didn’t really like him, certainly not like other contemporary greats of the men’s game.
But, only three years later, Novak has made a turn, obvious even at the tennis major in the country that once banished him. This has become clear as the 37-year-old has now progressed to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, beating a much younger Carlos Alcaraz to the joy of a stadium audience that not long ago would have put its full-throated support behind the charismatic Spaniard. But what was even more striking was when Australian sports broadcaster Tony Jones made a cheeky if but stupid critique of Djokovic and his Serbian fan base during a broadcast, which led to Novak refusing to do a post-match on court interview, the public actually got behind Djokovic, not the press. In fact, Jones was essentially forced to apologize to restore order to media access. A few years ago, it would be hard to imagine public sentiment lining up this way. But today, Djokovic is more babyface than heel.
Djokovic isn’t only tennis star complaining of harsh coverage by tennis reporters at the Australian Open. American Ben Shelton, who just qualified for the semis, said he’s noticed a lot of disrespectful conduct by media and interviewers throughout the tournament and that something needed to change. For example, Shelton took offense to an interviewer asking how he felt knowing the crowd would be pulling for his opponent in the next match – which is because it would either be Aussie Alex de Minaur or world number one Jannik Sinner. Shelton also suggested that broadcasters should help to grow the sport, and change their line of questioning.
There’s a lot to unpackage between Djokovic’s moment and the larger question of professional tennis players and broadcasters. Perhaps it should start with an acknowledgement that playing in a tennis major is a really stressful run, and athletes are under remarkable personal strain as long as they keep winning, which can run up to two weeks. So the kind of media noise that might not bother other athletes throughout the course of a long season in a team sport could be far more triggering in the pressure cooker of a post match tennis interview. Second, the place of any sports broadcaster – and especially in the cozy space of tennis – is one of conflicting realities. One the one hand, you are largely part of the entertainment complex surviving on public interest. Which means yes, you do benefit from the uplift of the sport and, in turn, the athletes themselves. So yes, Shelton and Djokovic are kind of right – not that reporters should be nice to them, but that their success is interwoven. Folks like Shelton and Djokovic are increasingly aware that for better or worse, the broadcasters probably need them more than they need the broadcasters.
And finally, as much as I like to see broadcasters asking tough questions and not simply acting as PR props, part of this hubbub with both players is not just because coverage was mean, but because it was bad. Asking an athlete what it feels like to be disliked by fans or taunting your supporters for laughs isn’t really degrading. It’s just kind of dumb. And while I’ll always stand up for the rights of reporters, it’s harder to stand up for lazy work. And maybe that’s why in the end, Tony Jones had to apologize. Because the work kind of spoke for itself.
I’m guessing Novak Djokovic won’t spend too much more time worrying about it. Because right now, he’s got the world on his side.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler
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