Andy Roddick came in support of his former rival Roger Federer, who was labeled as ‘arrogant’ by Novak Djokovic’s mother. Roddick felt that those comments coming from Djokovic’s camp are unnecessary and he wouldn’t use that word to describe the Swiss Maestro.
Earlier this week, Djokovic’s mother claimed that Federer is a bit ‘arrogant’. She also explained that God saved his son at the Wimbledon Championships Final against Federer last year.
“In a stadium where everyone was cheering on Roger Federer, we were just a handful of fans for Novak,” Dijana Djokovic said in a Serbian publication Sport Blic. “It’s not nice that I’m annoyed by Federer or others at such moments. But it annoyed me because Federer is a bit arrogant.”
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However, Former World No.1 Roddick feels that Djokovic’s mother’s comments about Federer were not necessary. He also explained that some of the recent things coming from Novak’s camp are concerning.
“It’s just unnecessary. I don’t know if we need to throw this around from the sidelines. I think it probably wouldn’t be one of my first 6000 words that I would use to describe Roger,” Roddick told Tennis Channel when asked about his views on the comments.
Djokovic has faced criticism for various comments on social media in the past few weeks. He was slammed for his ‘anti-coronavirus’ vaccine stance. He was also attacked for claiming that you can ‘change toxic water to drinking water with your thoughts and emotions.
“Novak Djokovic is certainly has a real chance of being the best of all time” – Andy Roddick
Nevertheless, Roddick feels that the disagreement with Djokovic’s views on various issues should not dictate anyone’s opinion on how great a tennis player he is.
“I think there have been some stories coming out of that camp that are maybe concerning at best,” he added. And so on top of those was turning ‘poisonous drinking water in a glorious thing with our thoughts’. This is actually only the second or third most alarming thing that set out of that camp in the last couple of weeks.
“It’s just hard cause when you disagree with someone’s stance on a personal level, you can still think that they’re really friendly and still enjoy seeing them. And that shouldn’t dictate your opinion on what they have accomplished on the court,” Roddick explained.
“So what I think of his stances on big world issues that are going on right now and what he has accomplished on sport are two completely separate things for me and Novak has been unbelievable. He is certainly has a real chance of being the best of all time regardless of if I have to disagree with him on any certain issue,” he concluded.
Novak Djokovic certainly has all the right to express his views. Subsequently, other people also have the right to oppose his opinions. However, as Roddick explained, his or anyone’s opinion should not be a criterion to judge him as a tennis player. He certainly is one of the greatest players ever to play the sport regardless of his views on many issues.
