IT ALL STARTED WHEN DJOKOVIC ROUNDED ON ANDY RODDICK AND THE US OPEN CROWD AFTER THEIR QUARTER-FINAL IN 2008
Swiss and the Spaniard have been admired, loved and treasured almost from the moment they appeared on the tennis fans’ radar. Djokovic? Not so much. As he began to rack up the Grand Slam trophies, his role became clear. Federer was the elegant ambassador who played a brand of tennis no one could imitate. Nadal was the humble soul (yet brutal competitor) who dominated the French Open and beyond. But Djokovic was the one who played ruthlessly flawless tennis and got in the way of the other two. The stage had been set: Roger and Rafa were the goodies, Nole the baddy. It all started when Djokovic rounded on Andy Roddick and the US Open crowd in 2008. Roddick had spiced things up before their quarter-final by suggesting that the Serb was a bit of a hypochondriac, always suffering from something or other. “Cramp, bird flu, Anthrax, SARS, common cough and cold,”
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