‘Villain’ Novak Djokovic’s Pursuit of Greatness Turns Into His ‘Biggest Mistake’ as Insider Reveals the Cost of Perfection

“That’s why I keep on playing professional tennis, competition tennis because I want to be the best, I want to win the biggest tournaments in the world,” – Novak Djokovic said during the 2023 AO. Was his desire to become the greatest a big “mistake” in his tennis career? Despite being able to surpass both of his fierce rivals Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20) in the number of Grand Slam titles, the Serb didn’t receive the same level of widespread popularity as the other two. Recently, a tennis insider wrote a few lines on Puntodebreak, about how Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of greatness backfired him in his tennis journey.

Previously in his documentary, ‘FEDERER: Twelve Final Days’, Roger Federer explained why Novak Djokovic is “misunderstood” and also described him as the “party crasher of Rafa and Roger fans.” Why did he say so, though? Well according to Federer, “There was a lot of Rafa-Roger love there, so when Novak came probably a lot of people said, ‘Look, we don’t need a third guy. We’re happy with Roger and Rafa.’” He further spoke about how Djokovic’s strong personality and unbelievable grit of wanting to win at all costs made him a bit unpopular among the ‘Fedal’ fans.

Recently, a tennis insider, Jose Moron paid a warm tribute to Novak Djokovic for his presence alongside Juan Martin Del Potro during a gala match in the form of a farewell for the Argentinian in Buenos Aires. While speaking on that, Moron highlighted the “biggest mistake” that Djokovic made in his tennis career. He said, “His biggest ‘mistake’ was wanting to be the best in history. The press then labeled him the villain of the movie. Once that’s done, it’s hard to remove that label.“

He further added, “He fought his way out of it all, waiting patiently and knowing that in time, his actions and achievements would be above the words that many threw at him. Years, decades, centuries will pass, and always in this History the name of Novak Djokovic will appear, grafted in letters of gold, while no one will remember the owners of those letters maliciously poured on him.” If we take a look at his numbers against two of his biggest rivals, well the rivalry started in 2006, when both Federer and Nadal were at their prime form. However, Novak Djokovic still managed to finish off the H2H scoreline against the two in his favor!

Perhaps that’s why he was labeled a “villain” in the ‘Fedal Movie’! Even German tennis legend, Boris Becker once stated, “In men’s tennis, fans are divided between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Then here comes Djokovic who crashes the party – this is why he gets so much criticism. Nobody is perfect. Roger double faults, Rafa double faults… they don’t get booed.“

What does Rafael Nadal think about his rivalry with Novak Djokovic, though? Well, during a previous interview with AS, Nadal hailed Djokovic as the “best.” However, when he was asked who was his biggest rival, he said, “I’ve played Djokovic more than anyone else, but for me, my biggest rival was Federer.” Now, with Nadal’s retirement this epic rivalry between the ‘Big 3’ has come to an end, but wait a second! Two new ones have arrived on the scene to throw a challenge to the 24-time Grand Slam champion. What does Novak Djokovic think about facing those challenges in 2025?

Novak Djokovic says he’s looking forward to the challenges in the upcoming season

During a recent interview with Sport Klub, Novak Djokovic said, “Tennis is still my focus. I am going at full throttle in the off-season, we go for another ride. I just needed to recharge and refresh a bit after an exhausting year.” This year, he didn’t win a Grand Slam title! As a result, his hunger to win a few Grand Slam titles seems to be well alive at the moment.

The 37-year-old Serb is all set to begin his 2025 season in Brisbane. He made his only previous appearance at the ATP 250 in 2009. This shows us how desperately, Novak Djokovic wants to find back his winning touch before the first major tournament of the 2025 season. His only title in 2024 came at the Paris Olympics. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz didn’t give him any chance at the Grand Slam tournaments this year. Both of them won two Grand Slam titles each this season. How is Novak Djokovic looking at this challenge from these two new rivals?

Well, during a recent interview, Novak Djokovic explained what he is doing to prepare himself for 2025. He also spoke about the challenge he could face from Sinner and Alcaraz in the next season. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m feeling inspired again to go out on the courts and motivated. I’m doing my best to prepare myself in the best possible way,” said the Serb. He said he has had quite a lot of time to prepare himself fully for the next season. So, he is now basically ready to roar!

Talking about Alcaraz and Sinner he said, “I feel like I can still go strong with young guys…Obviously, Sinner and Alcaraz are leading the way but I feel like when I’m prepared, when I’m at the top of my game I can challenge them and I look forward to seeing how far I can go next year, it should be exciting. Obviously always prioritize the Slams, and we’ll see how it goes.” Do you think Novak Djokovic can win a Grand Slam title in 2025?