Rafael Nadal criticizes Serbian fans: "They think it's like football"
Rafael Nadal has criticized some of the Serbian fans after losing to Novak Djokovic in the ATP Cup. The Spaniard criticized the lack of respect from some viewers.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jan 13, 2020, 07:37 pm
With the match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the ATP Cup in Australia was more than worthy of a conclusion. The Serb was able to defeat the world number one with 6: 2 and 7: 6 (4) and thus laid the foundation stone for the success of his team - in the final doubles Djokovic won on the side of Viktor Troicki against Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez in two sets .
The success of the Serbian team was celebrated frenetically by the vocal fans in Sydney, Djokovic was deeply touched by the atmosphere at home: "I have never experienced such a mood on a tennis court. I can only thank the Serbian fans for their support. I think that they were the key to success. "
Nadal was not so enthusiastic about the audience. The 33-year-old did not feel treated respectfully by some of the spectators. "They think it's like soccer. But the mood in tennis is different. The respect for the players should be there and in some moments it wasn't there for a small part of the audience."
Unfamiliar situation for Nadal
Overall, the Mallorcan was nevertheless satisfied with the support of the Australian fans: "To be honest, the support from the audience was fantastic every day." But Nadal didn't want to leave it at that. "Sometimes people from other countries don't understand how tennis works," said the 19-time Grand Slam winner.
Whether Nadal's resentment is also due to the fact that the Spaniard did not have the fans on his side in contrast to the majority of previous matches against Djokovic remains pure speculation. What is certain, however, is that the industry leader will already strike back at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne - and how could this be done better than with a final victory against Djokovic?