Former World No. 25 explains why Olympic champion Novak Djokovic is ‘very bad for tennis’
Former World No.25 Fernando Meligeni feels that Novak Djokovic's quality tennis overshadows the achievements of other players.
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Novak Djokovic (Image via Imago)
Is Novak Djokovic ‘bad’ for tennis? Former World No. 25 Fernando Meligeni ranted about Djokovic’s game but only that he was just praising the Serb for being too good.
Meligeni thought the way Djokovic played in the Olympic final in Paris was just ‘crazy’. On August 4, a resilient and determined Djokovic, knowing that he may not get any more opportunities to play an Olympic final due to his age, overcame young sensation Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to clinch his first gold medal in the quadrennial tournament.
Meligeni, who played from 1990 to 2003 and bagged three career singles and seven doubles titles, feels the tennis fraternity thinks that just because Djokovic plays tennis of the highest quality, it overshadows the achievements of other players.
Djokovic, the phrase can cause astonishment. But he is very bad for tennis. Very bad. Because people think this is normal. Djokovic raises the level so much that people look at us, who played there 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, one hundred and 50 in the world. Who played very well. And they think we…sorry. We're trash! We're awful.Fernando Meligeni said on his ‘New Balls Please!’ podcast on YouTube
Former Brazilian tennis player Fernando @meligeni, once ranked 25th in the world and a Roland Garros semifinalist, explains why Novak Djokovic is bad for tennis after winning his first gold medal at the Paris Olympics. #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/08EnvOVuOS
— Dandan Gallagher (@dandangallagher) August 6, 2024
It was Djokovic’s second final of the season, having played his first at the Wimbledon, where he lost to Alcaraz. Also, prior to the Paris Olympics, the 24-time Grand Slam champion never played in the final at the Games. On his debut in 2008 in Beijing, he bagged the bronze, then went on to lose in the semifinals of the next three editions in London, Rio, and Tokyo.
Novak Djokovic to play at Shanghai Masters
After clinching his first title of this year and completing the career Golden Slam, one of Novak Djokovic‘s next destinations is Shanghai. The 37-year-old, who has won four titles at the Shanghai Masters, will play in the tournament for the first time since 2019.
Hello! I can’t wait to be back to play in the Rolex Shanghai Masters. You are so great, China. I love you – thank you!Novak Djokovic said
The Olympic Champion is coming back to Shanghai! ?
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) August 6, 2024
After 5 years, 4-time champ @DjokerNole will play at the @SH_RolexMasters ?
Get your tickets now -> https://t.co/FeJNYueW2m pic.twitter.com/fxwOPCRWcL
In the tournament in 2019, Djokovic was beaten in the semifinals by Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Djokovic won the Shanghai Masters in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018.
He has skipped the Canadian Open but is set to play the Cincinnati Open where he is the defending champion. After Cincinnati, his next target will be to defend his title at Flushing Meadows, which he won four times.
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Gouri Das
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