Tennis News: Novak Djokovic gives back, and most searched-for players

There seems to be a popular narrative that Novak Djokovic isn’t as beloved as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. One, the narrative might simply be false and is mostly just based on whoever is making the argument’s own bias. Secondly, the top ten most searched-for athletes on social media do not include the names Federer or Nadal, but the list does include Djokovic. But more of that in a minute.

First, let’s dispose of Novak Djokovic not being as well-liked as Federer or Nadal. Nadal has his tennis academy and supports a lot of charities as does Federer. Both Federer and Nadal seem to be good guys off the court and that’s a great thing. But Djokovic also appears to be a pretty good person off the court, too.

Djokovic opened the Novak Tennis Center in Belgrade, Serbia 15 years ago. It’s a tennis academy, sure, but it serves a need that the area simply didn’t have before. But many of the young players that go there don’t have the financial support to keep playing and many times Novak Djokovic will help them.

Novak Djokovic seems to be a pretty good guy

One player recently spoke about just that issue. 20-year-old Hamad Medjedovic has won fewer ATP matches than he has lost, but that happens with young players many times. Still, Djokovic has helped relieve stress in one major area and that is in paying the bills.

Said Medjedovic, “Novak Djokovic’s been helping me out financially. Giving me whatever I need for my career. He covered it all. He just helped me out when I needed it and (is) still helping me out in all types of ways. I’m glad he’s there for me.”

Novak Djokovic not a good person? No, that argument is out the proverbial window now after what Medjedovic had to say.

Speaking of Djokovic, he is one of the ten most searched-for athletes on social media globally, according to the Online Betting Guide and posted by Marca. Djokovic is one of two tennis players on the list. The other? Carlos Alcaraz.

In fact, the 20-year-old Alcaraz ranks just above Djokovic – the Spaniard is number 7 and the Serb is number 8. Football star Cristiano Ronaldo is by far the overall leader with nearly 200 million hits on social media. Alcaraz has 60 million and Djokovic 58 million. In other words, everyone on the list from number 8 to number 1 has at least 57,999,999 more social media hits than I do.