Andy Roddick slams haters of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

One might assume that Novak Djokovic gets the most disrespect from tennis fans. He is normally the one that people say is not as well-liked as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. That might just be perception as there is no real way of measuring who is more liked. Djokovic has more social media followers than Nadal, for instance, so one might not think Nadal is better-loved.

But recently, Nadal has undergone some criticism because he chose to play in the Netflix Slam against Carlos Alcaraz but then soon withdrew from Indian Wells. Many may have felt Nadal simply took the money and ran from the Netflix exhibition but when the matches truly mattered he decided he did not want to play. Nadal did appear to suffer some kind of back or shoulder injury near the end of the Alcaraz match and he might not otherwise have withdrawn from Indian Wells.

Andy Roddick is a former No. 1 player who understands how fans can react and criticize players. He also has a fantastic podcast where he gets to spew his excellent thoughts on just about everything. On a recent episode of his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick, Roddick spoke about the hate that both Nadal and Djokovic have received.

Andy Roddick stands up for both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

About Nadal playing against Alcaraz but not playing in the next ATP event, Roddick said, "Just because he played an exhibition doesn't mean he was ready. I think it's stupid to treat him this way. These guys put on a great show in Vegas, they did everything they could to make it fun, but it's a lot different than playing against the best players on the planet in a tournament."

About Djokovic not receiving enough respect for how well-liked he is in the locker room among other players, Roddick said, "There are many tennis players who aren't as good as Rafa...who leave objects on the floor before leaving (the locker room). This is something that absolutely drives me crazy. They receive treatment from the physiotherapist, get up and leave without saying thank you.

"It's nice that two of the three best tennis players, but I also include Djokovic, behave like this. I think Djokovic actually doesn't get enough credit for how friendly and warm he is with people in and around the locker room."

It's nice to hear how a former top player thinks about Nadal and Djokovic. To be fair, Roddick is going to know more about those two players than the causal fan is, of course. He has shared a locker room with both players and played against both. Roddick knows what he speaks and his saying that both all-time greats are good people and should carry more weight than some random discussion on social media.

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