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Novak Djokovic opens up on his comprehensive win over Lucas Pouille in the 2019 Australian Open semi-final
Novak Djokovic will have more Grand Slam titles than Pete Sampras if he wins the Australian Open on Sunday and yet, he’s at risk of becoming the most under-appreciated sporting legend of all time.

A lack of genuine affection for Djokovic, his adoring Serbian community aside, is the sad side-effect of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal being so beloved.

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Sport fandom is a curiously binary business, so when Federer and Nadal are the good guys, as they have been for well over a decade, Djokovic is unjustly cast as the baddie, or at least the party pooper.

Rather, he’s a wonderful ambassador for the game with a killer sense of humour, and any reasonable criticisms of his tennis are buried six feet somewhere below Melbourne Park.

Victory over Nadal tonight would make Djokovic, by number of Australian Open wins, the greatest player ever to grace Aussie soil. He deserves far better than being cast as the Grant Hackett to ‘Fedal’s’ Kieren Perkins, 11 years after he first lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

Novak Djokovic is trying to win a record seventh Australian Open title. (AAP)
Djokovic was once a figure of scorn on the men’s tour, with some justification. He was always a blue-chip talent, yet was seen as a hypochondriac, with Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and American Andy Roddick among those who called him out.

Roddick shared a wild rivalry with the Serb star back when he could be considered something of a villain. It was the American at his searing best, at a time when a young Djokovic was an easy target.

Before their 2008 US Open quarter-final, which followed Djokovic’s five-set win over Tommy Robredo in which he took two medical time-outs, Roddick listed all of the Serbian’s supposed ailments: “A back and a hip? And a cramp, bird flu, anthrax, SARS, a common cough and cold.”

Djokovic was fuming and beat Roddick in four sets, before a post-match interview in which he got Arthur Ashe Stadium booing him – loudly.

“I am really happy playing against Roddick on his court and in his city in his favorite tournament, so to win against him is a huge effort,” Djokovic said.

“Andy was saying that I have 16 injuries in the last match, so obviously I don’t, right? Like it or not, it’s like that. They (the crowd) are already against me because they think I am faking everything, so sorry.

“That’s not nice, anyhow, to say in front of this crowd that I have 16 injuries and I am faking it. I have nothing against anybody … it’s not nice.”

A young Novak Djokovic played the heel at the 2008 US Open. (AP)
Roddick revealed in 2013 that he spat had escalated into a physical confrontation once the players returned to the locker room.

“I got in an in-the-locker-room, after-a-match confrontation with this tennis player one time – I won’t say his name, I’ll just say it rhymes with ‘Schmovak Schmokovic’ … and we got into at US Open one time,” Roddick told FOX Sports Live.

“I was kind of talking trash and he came out and beat the pants off of me as he would, but then kind of chirped afterward and he came straight in, I went right up to him and had him up against the locker, but then I realised his trainer was about a little bit bigger than Donovan [McNabb, an ex-NFL quarterback who was alongside Roddick on FOX] here, and I kind of checked myself. My trainer is about 5-foot-8, 130 (pounds), and can dodge raindrops. I kind of backed off real quick. I was about to get railroaded from the side.”

Novak Djokovic with Andy Roddick after quitting their 2009 Australian Open quarter-final. (AAP)
Djokovic was only 21 at the time and had just one Grand Slam to his name, that year’s Australian Open. He had a truly galling moment at the Australian Open the following year (2009), when he retired from a quarter-final against Roddick, due to “heat illness”. Yes: he quit because it was too hot (it was a scalding 37 degrees).

At that stage, it was his fourth retirement in his 17th Grand Slam tournament and he was building a poor reputation. Roddick went fairly easy on him, seeing his pain close up, but Federer said: “He’s not a guy who’s never given up before … it’s disappointing. I’m almost in favour of saying, ‘You know what, if you’re not fit enough, just get out of here’.”

It wasn’t until 2011 at Melbourne Park that Djokovic won his second major, which he has since built into 14 Slams by age 31. He has also grown personally as his record has swollen to iconic levels.

The case for Djokovic to earn a bit more love is, or at least should be, compelling. The Serb has reportedly been bemused by his inability to win-over fans in the manner of Federer or Nadal, which is entirely fair enough.

Here is what we have witnessed from him over his career and why it would be a great injustice if he is fated to be remembered as ‘the other guy’ of the Federer-Nadal era.

HE WENT ON WITH IT, UNLIKE HIS 2008 VICTIM

Remember who Djokovic played in that 2008 Australian Open final, after upsetting Federer in the semis? Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Muhammad Ali lookalike who took Melbourne Park by storm.

Fast forward 11 years. Slam count: Djokovic 14, Tsonga 0.

Eleven years later, 14 Grand Slams – all owned by Djokovic. (AAP)
HE OVERCAME HIS WILTING IN THE HEAT PROBLEM

In mid-2010, Djokovic was in Croatia for a Davis Cup tie when he met a fellow Serb – Dr Igor Cetojevic – who had watched him play Tsonga at that year’s Australian Open. Djokovic was up two sets to one, but began to have trouble breathing and vomited during a toilet break. He lost the match, winning only four games in the final two sets, and branded it his “professional low”.

Cetojevic had a suspected diagnosis and six months later did a rudimentary strength test, during which Djokovic was holding a piece of bread. The outcome was clear: Djokovic was sensitive to gluten. It weakened him – so he began a gluten-free diet.

The following season, he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, posted an amazing win-loss record of 70–6 and was ranked world No.1 at year’s end. Djokovic is famously disciplined with his diet, which is also dairy-free and low on sugar. After a near-six-hour Australian Open final against Nadal in 2012, he craved chocolate after abstaining from the treat for 18 months. In his moment of victory, after a monumental physical feat against the might Spaniard, he ate just one square.

Novak Djokovic with his maiden Wimbledon title in 2011, won over Rafael Nadal. (PA/AAP)
THAT ICONIC OPEN DECIDER AGAINST NADAL

Novak Djokovic could have retired after the 2012 Australian Open and his legend would have been secure. It was one of the greatest performances ever seen, a physical tour de force from a player once considered soft.

In the semi-finals, Djokovic took four hours and 50 minutes to beat Andy Murray, coming from two sets to one down and saving break points at 5-5 in the fifth set. The old Djokovic would have been more than spent; the new one was only getting started.

Nadal was coming off a four-set semis win over Federer and must have fancied his chances. What unfolded was staggering: Five hours, 53 minutes of tennis from two modern giants. It was the longest match in Open-era Grand Slam history, the longest match in Australian Open history – and Djokovic won 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-5. Little over a year before, the fragile Serb beating the cast-iron Spaniard in such an epic would have been inconceivable.

No one begrudged him for a second when he fell to the court upon winning match point, then tore off his shirt while screaming in his moment of glory.

Novak Djokovic after winning the epic 2012 Australian Open final over Rafael Nadal. (AAP)
PERIODS OF DOMINANCE OVER NADAL AND FEDERER

The 2012 final was the third consecutive Grand Slam final that Nadal had lost to Djokovic, an Open era record that took in 2011’s Wimbledon and US Open. They are the only Slam finals that Djokovic has won over Nadal, but they marked a period of legitimate dominance in an overall career advantage. Perhaps the craziest thing about that period was that Djokovic established himself as the better defensive player, when Nadal was probably the greatest defender in history.

Djokovic leads Nadal 27-25 over their careers, winning their latest meeting in last year’s Wimbledon semis. He trails the Spanish great in Slam matches (5-9) and Slam finals (3-4), though he enjoys a slight advantage if matches at the French Open (the claycourt major which Nadal has won a mind-boggling 11 times) aren’t counted; on grass/hard, Djokovic leads 4-3 for Slam matches and 3-2 for Slam finals. Djokovic is one of just two men to ever beat Nadal at Roland Garros (against 86 wins), in the 2015 quarter-finals.

Starting with that 2008 Australian Open semi, Djokovic has also gotten the better of Federer. He has a 25-22 career advantage over the Swiss maestro, including the last four matches. Federer has not beaten Djokovic since the 2015 ATP Finals.

Djokovic leads Federer 9-5 in Grand Slam matches and 3-1 in Slam finals. The last time Federer beat him in a Slam was the Wimbledon 2012 semis, and the only Slam final he lost to Federer was right back at the 2007 US Open; his first Slam decider, which he followed up with his maiden Slam in 2008 at Melbourne. Djokovic has won three Australian Open semis over Federer; they are yet to contest a final.

Novak Djokovic single-handedly split the Federer-Nadal duopoly. (AAP)
HE DOMINATED THE OTHER BIG FOUR MEMBER, MURRAY

Spare a thought for Andy Murray, the man closest in age to Djokovic and a good friend of the Serb. Their friendship never bought him a single favour on the court, even if he had his moments.

Djokovic leads 25-11 in career head-to-hea