Novak Djokovic’s intensity on the tennis court is well-known but according to one former training partner, playing with the Serb was not a pleasant experience.
Novak Djokovic was accused of being ‘nasty’ during training (Image: Getty)
Novak Djokovic was accused of perpetuating “nasty” behaviour during practice by fellow tennis star Jules Marie. The 24-time Grand Slam champion is known for his intense demeanour which has reared its head several times on the court during the course of his 20-plus year professional career.
Djokovic is, however, among the most respected players in the sport’s history but has faced allegations of displaying contrasting behaviour when being in front of camera, compared to when he’s not being watched. Marie – who operates a YouTube channel with over 130,000 followers – plays on the ATP Tour and has had several experiences playing the 38-year-old, but certainly doesn’t look back on them fondly.
The Frenchman, 33, was live on Instagram when he decided to recall sparring Djokovic at the 2021 French Open – which the Serbian superstar went on to win – and admitted Djokovic was consistently “nasty” in the way he acted. “When I was a sparring partner at Roland Garros, I played five times with Djokovic, and he was nasty all five times,” Marie stunningly claimed.
“You play on the edge with him. If you hit a ball 1.5m away from him, he doesn’t play it and looks at you like, ‘If you do it again, I’ll kick you out’.’ At one point, I served a ball, and he didn’t play it. He says to me, ‘It’s my coach who is supposed to serve.’ So his coach serves, I hit the ball back, and he sends the ball 50 metres high. I don’t know why (…) Not nice at all.”
Marie added that he endured a different experience when seeing Djokovic at the Australian Open the following year, claiming the presence of cameras meant the Serb was no longer exhibiting the behaviour he’d displayed at Roland Garros. “On the other hand, at the Australian Open, I was no longer a sparring partner; I was a player. So it was different,” he said. “And he knew about my YouTube channel. Plus, we were filmed, there were cameras, so he couldn’t be nasty.”
One player that knows all too well about Djokovic’s intenseness is former rival-turned-coach Andy Murray who said it’s Djokovic’s fierce dedication that has made him one of the sport’s all-time greats. “At times it’s very enjoyable,” Murray said about his experience coaching the Serb at the Australian Open. “But high performance is not supposed to be like laughs and jokes and messing around. It isn’t about that.
Jules Marie said he had an unhappy training experience with Novak Djokovic (Image: Getty)
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“In all the times I’ve been on tour, I haven’t seen that from any of the best players in the world. I’ve seen it from some of the lower ranked players, and that’s one of the reasons why they’re not there. The best players take it seriously and they want to improve, and it’s not always easy. It’s demanding, but it’s extremely rewarding when you make a breakthrough in a practice and something starts to feel a little bit better. That’s exciting.”
Djokovic’s form has suffered as of late, as he’s endured two defeats in a row. He fell to a straight sets loss against Matteo Berrettini in the Round of 32 at the Qatar Open and was knocked out in the Round of 64 at the Indian Wells Masters at the hands of Botic van de Zandschulp.
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