Novak Djokovic is just so … urgh. But he’s also so … er … brilliant

Novak Djokovic’s 24th major title moved him two clear of yesterday’s hero, Rafael Nadal, atop the all-time men’s list.

Novak Djokovic’s 24th grand slam title, main, has put the Serbian superstar right up there with sport’s greatest achievers. Picture: Getty Images

I was walking out of Melbourne Park the night Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open. I asked a stranger, “Enjoy the tennis?” She said yep, loved it. Then she rolled her eyes and laughed, “Bloody Djoko!”

We wandered up near the Shane Warne statue at the MCG. She was still rattling off her reasons for disliking him. A list as long as Warnie’s right arm. Arrogant. Bungs on injuries. Thinks he’s God’s gift to tennis. “He’s just so …,” she said. Couldn’t find the right word.

I suggested Australians had been a bit harsh in booing good old Djoko for the better part of 15 years. The government put him in detention and kicked him out of the country for declining to be vaccinated. When he returned this year, he refused to grumble. Not a word of complaint. The woman became agitated and found her missing word. She ­wandered off into the midnight Richmond streets by huffing, “He’s just so … urgh!”

We try to keep it to strictly business around here.

But figured you all deserved one more treat. pic.twitter.com/VuJoKwcl3A

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2023

Well, bloody Djoko won another US Open on Monday. He’s just so … good. His 24th major title moved him two clear of yesterday’s hero, Rafael Nadal, atop the all-time men’s list. Drew him level with yesteryear’s hero, Australia’s Margaret Court, as the most successful players in history. Court comes from a different time, place and level of skill, and like it or lump it, love him or loathe him, Djokovic has become the greatest tennis player who ever lived. Infuriatingly, perhaps. Yet irrefutably.

“It means the world to me,” the Serb said after beating Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in New York. “I’m really living my childhood dream. To compete at the highest level in the sport … coming from very difficult circumstances and adversities during the 90s, a couple of wars in our country and being able to push through … I fell in love with tennis. It was quite a choice but with incredible resilience and belief from my parents, and all the people around me all these years, this is your trophy as much as is mine. I love you.”

And everybody went, he’s just so urgh. Which doesn’t matter. Why? Because if he’s not as eye-pleasing a player as Roger Federer (20 majors) or Nadal – sport isn’t a beauty pageant. If he’s not your cup of tea for character – nor is it a personality contest. The name of the game is to win. Which he does better than anyone.

Oh, but Federer’s flourish! Oh, but Nadal’s warrior heart! Immaterial. Put it like this: a tennis ball doesn’t know who’s hit it. It doesn’t care if you do it with a poet’s flair (Federer) or a pirate’s grunt (Nadal). It doesn’t matter if you’re making the masses roar (both Federer and Nadal) or if you’re hitting it with robotic efficiency while getting booed (Djokovic) out of town. All that matters is where the ball goes, and the scoreboard. Djokovic reigns supreme on both fronts. As he likes to say: “I just keep winning.”

He’s just so … dominant. For an accomplishment, 24 majors is bonkers. Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt had a sensational career – and he won two. The Djokovic question moves beyond tennis to, where does he sit in the history of all athletic endeavour? In a rather lofty spot, I suggest. If Muhammad Ali, Pele and Sir Donald George Bradman, for starters, are seated at the highest table of sport, someone needs to shove over and make room for Djokovic. Urgh or concur, that’s the sort of company he now keeps.

Novak Djokovic with his T-shirt tribute to late basketball star Kobe Bryant. Picture: AFP

He received his US Open trophy in a T-shirt honouring the late American basketballer Kobe Bryant. The number 24 was printed next to a picture of their faces: the number Bryant used to wear for the Los Angeles Lakers; the fresh-minted number of Djokovic’s slam successes. Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020.

“Kobe was a close friend,” Djokovic said. “We chatted a lot about the winners’ mentality. He was one of the people I relied on the most. He was always there for any advice and support. What happened a few years ago hurt me deeply. So I thought it could be nice to acknowledge him.”

At one stage of the final, Djokovic jumped the net to help the fallen Medvedev get back to his feet. Seemed a gentlemanly gesture. The Russian rejected him with an eye-rolling look that suggested, well, he’s just so urgh, but used his post-match speech to praise his polarising opponent.

“First of all I want to ask Novak, what are you still doing here? I feel like I have not a bad career and I have 20 (tour) titles. You have 24 grand slams,” he said before replacing urgh with a more appropriate word. Sincerely, Medvedev told good old Djoko: “Wow.”