After winning his historic 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open this year, Novak Djokovic increased his lead over Roger Federer (20) and Rafa Nadal (22) on the list of men’s all-time Grand Slam champions. However, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, claimed Djokovic is still not as popular as Nadal or Federer.
The Serb has advantages over the two other players in question in the results of head-to-head competition. He’s won 27 times in 50 matches against Federer. He has a 30-29 record in head-to-head play against Nadal, giving him a tenuous advantage.
According to Rennae, the reason for clinching so many grand slam titles, however, is entirely different. Because he is aware that he cannot compete with the popularity of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Djokovic aspires to win more titles than those two players, she said.
“I think Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal definitely personified wanting to win a lot but it’s obsessive to Novak and you can see it. He wants to put the numbers up because he knows he’s not gonna be as popular worldwide as Roger and Rafa.” Rennae said recently in her podcast.
Stubbs went on to say that the Serb aspired to have a better on-court record than Federer and Nadal by contrasting his temperance with theirs. She, however, concluded by praising the Serb’s relentlessness and never-give-up attitude on the court. Rennae called him unbelievable no matter what others may say about the 36-year-old.
Novak Djokovic pulls out of the Shanghai Masters
Djokovic teamed up with the Serbia team to fight in the Davis Cup Finals Group stage in Valencia, Spain. And this was just days after capturing a record-extending 24th Grand Slam championship with a triumph at the US Open. He has, however, decided not to compete in the Shanghai Masters. This most likely means he won’t play on the tennis ATP tour for at least the next entire month.
He was supposed to play at the Shanghai Open this year October 2–9. But he withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 competition, he made the statement on X (previously Twitter).
Over the years, some of the best support I receive anywhere in the world is in China. Shanghai has always been one of my favorite tournaments in the season. I will be missing my #NoleFam in China. I hope that I can come back to China in the future and play in front of all of you…
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) September 17, 2023
Djokovic, who has a perfect 29-0 career record and six titles at Beijing, has been a prominent figure in China throughout his career. Out of 39, four of his ATP Masters 1000 titles have come from China, including his first-ever ATP title.
Unfortunately, Djokovic is bound to drop by 750 points in the ATP rankings as he will be missing Tel Aviv. He won’t be defending his Astana Title from 2022 either, which will lead to a significant drop in his rankings. This may give his Spanish rival, Alcaraz, the hope of claiming ATP World No. 1 spot once again. Carlos has no points to defend other than a drop of 180 points and he will be competing in the Shanghai Masters as well.
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