“Novak Djokovic gets a lot of undeserved hate” – Alexander Zverev makes his feelings known on Serb ‘spoiling the party’ for Federer & Nadal fans

Alexander Zverev opened up about his thoughts on the undeserved hate that Novak Djokovic has received from fans of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Zverev will next be seen competing at Wimbledon, which will commence on June 30 and conclude on July 13.

Djokovic is one of the most prominent tennis players and has solidified his legacy in the sport over the years. He won 24 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, and is also the third men’s player to win 100 ATP Tour titles. However, despite his stellar performances in the sport, fans of Nadal and Federer have given a lot of ‘undeserved hate’ to him for ‘spoiling the party’ for them.

Defending the Serb, Zverev, in an interview with Tennis365, stated that he is a good guy. Calling the hate undeserved, the German athlete said:

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“So I think he gets a lot of undeserved hate. Obviously, Roger and Rafa are probably two of the most loved athletes of all time, right? They’re probably both in the top 10 of the most-loved athletes of all time. And Novak was spoiling the party a lot for the fans. But you know, all I can is Novak is genuinely a good guy."

Along with this, Alexander Zverev also shared his thoughts about being booed by the audience in Melbourne after he was forced to withdraw from the semifinal against him at the Australian Open.

"People in the crowd paid for tickets and they want to see a battle probably between us with four hours, five hours, you know, going to distance,” Zverev said. "But at the end of the day, he won that tournament 10 times. He won it with injury, he won a term on different occasions, with different problems."

Djokovic was last seen in action at the French Open, where he fell short of advancing to the finals of the tournament after being bested by Jannik Sinner.

Alexander Zverev shared his thoughts about players facing social media abuse

Ahead of competing at the French Open, Alexander Zverev sat for a press conference, where he weighed in on the hate and adversities players have to navigate on social media. He said that the negativity they receive online was extreme and emphasized how social media has become the most important thing.

"These days, social media is more important than anything else. We get a lot of hate. For us tennis players, the insults we are exposed to daily online and on social media are extreme, because a lot of it happens via hidden messages, direct messages and the like," Alexander Zverev said.

Drawing from his experience, Zverev said that if he had withdrawn from the Bitpanda Hamburg Open, where he played the second round despite being sick, he would have been accused of a lot of things by fans.

"If I had withdrawn (from Hamburg), I would have been accused of many things. I would probably have been accused of just taking the money and leaving after one match. That I wasn't taking the tournament seriously, and so on. But that's not true; I lost because I was sick. Tennis has a strong culture of blame among fans and also on social media," he added.

Alexander Zverev commenced his 2025 season by competing at the Australian Open, where he delivered strong performances throughout the tournament. However, he fell short of lifting the title after being bested by Jannik Sinner in the finals.

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Nancy Singh

An English Honors graduate, Nancy is a journalist at Sportskeeda covering US Olympic sports. She has a total experience of 4 years, having previously worked as a Marketing Executive for BYJU’S before finding her footing at SK.

To deliver the best content, Nancy keeps herself updated by reading as much as possible about the athletes and the sport, and believes that researching and trusting credible sources is the key to reporting ethical and accurate information.

Track and Field events particularly interest Nancy, and she is a fan of Allyson Felix. While she cherished each of her victories, her favorite Olympic moment happens to be the retired athlete’s 10th medal at the Games.

Nancy believes that covering the personal lives and training sessions of the Olympic athletes, and showcasing old podcasts or interviews would help bridge the coverage gap of the sport in its off season.

When away from her keyboard, Nancy spends most of her free time reading books. She also writes poems and plans on publishing a book.

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