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‘He Is Not Loved’ – Fans Take Vicious Swipe At Novak Djokovic As He Fails To Claim ATP ‘Favorite’ Award In Roger Federer And Rafael Nadal’s Absence

Published 12/13/2023, 5:32 AM EST

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The 22-year-old Italian tennis player, Jannik Sinner has been in the limelight with his outstanding performance throughout the 2023 season. Recently, he again appeared in the headlines after winning the ATP Fans’ Favourite Award. This win however has drawn the Serbian superstar in the frame yet again. Novak Djokovic had a total of 7 career titles this year including 3 out of the 4 Grand Slams. He finished the year as number 1 for the 8th time in his career. Yet Jannik Sinner is the fan favorite. How?

Well, Novak Djokovic has never been a fan favorite throughout his career. But does that stop him from winning what he does best? Clinching his 24th Grand Slam title at the age of 36 is a perfect answer to this question. However, Jannik Sinner overtaking the world number one and becoming a fan favorite has become a hot topic over the last few hours. Let’s find out how the fans reacted to this.

Fans take vicious swipe at Novak Djokovic after Jannik Sinner takes home a popular ATP Award

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Jannik Sinner had a stellar outing this season winning a total of 4 titles and becoming the first Italian to end the season in the top 5 of men’s singles rankings. Sinner played a pivotal role in leading Italy to clinch their first Davis Cup title after a gap of almost 47 years. With this win at the prestigious ATP Award ceremony for the 2023 season, the Italian has now become the first one to get honored outside of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since 2003.

The Swiss Maestro holds the record of winning the award 19 times between 2003 to 2021, while Rafa won it for the first time in 2022. Now, with one having retired and the other being out of action, Djokovic seemed the obvious choice. But it didn’t happen, and here’s how the fans poked at him.

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One of the fans took a dig at Djokovic citing “The antivaxxer is so unpopular” that he can’t even win this award in the absence of the other two from the ‘Big Three’.

Another fan highlighted sportsmanship, politeness, and respect to be the key criteria to be a fan favorite.

While the other posted a GIF where Djokovic is seen rubbing his eyes. He wrote, “No one loves me.”

Some of them expressed their happiness over the 22-year-old Italian winning the award.

The others hilariously trolled him saying, “Novax just has the one fan with multiple accounts.”

Earlier, Jannik Sinner had also won the Most Improved Player of the Year and Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award. 2023 saw the rise of this Incredible Italian who gave birth to a new rivalry in the tennis world.

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Jannik Sinner Vs Novak Djokovic is a battle to watch out for in 2024

The rivalry was born during their meetings in Wimbledon over the last two years. But it was taken to a new height this year. Both of them met each other several times this year and their recent meeting at the Davis Cup marked their third face-off in 11 days. Although Novak Djokovic still leads the H2H with a 4-2 margin, Sinner has shown his grit and given him a tough fight throughout the season.

via Reuters

With both of them having one of the best seasons of their career in 2023. Fans are now expecting them to fire all cylinders in the next season as well. Can Jannik Sinner put some Italian seasoning over the new rivalry and reduce the margin next year?

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Written by:

Sayantan Roy

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Tennis has been my passion since my childhood. My sheer love and enthusiasm for the racket sport has been a major influence in me wanting to build a career in sports journalism. Additionally, being a die-hard Real Madrid fan makes me more connected to my tennis idol-Rafael Nadal, who himself is a huge Los Blancos fan and a contender to become its next President.
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Edited by:

Shudh.mukherjee