Former doubles champion Luke Jensen took a dig at World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, saying that Roger Federer was a better ambassador of the sport.
Djokovic has been embroiled in controversy throughout his tennis career. The most recent one came at the Australian Open, where his anti-vax status got him into trouble with the authorities.
The situation ended with the Serbian getting deported from the country after a tiresome legal battle. He was also hit with a ban from travelling to Australia, meaning he won’t be able to play at next year’s Australian Open barring a miracle.
Seeing all these controversies, the former doubles champion took a dig at Djokovic, saying that he was not as good a player or person as Federer.
“I was on the court with the biggest men’s match in over 50 years – Rod Laver won the calendar Grand Slam in 1969. And you’ve got Novak Djokovic, which, you know, all these years later playing at last year’s US Open for that calendar grand slam against Medvedev,” Jensen said, as quoted by Tennis World USA.
“I was across the court from Novak. And I’d never seen him so panicked, so afraid of the match, of the moment.”
Class
“On the other hand, Djokovic often finds himself embroiled in one controversy or another,” the American explained.
“But he I think he’s trying to reach for something that – there’s no way he can be the tennis version of James Bond. Roger Federer is James Bond.
“He’s (Federer) the greatest player that ever played because of what he does on the court. But also off the court the way he conducts himself.
“He doesn’t get in these jams and messes that that Novak seems to get into, like from time to time consistently now.”
Read more: Former World No. 1 comments on Djokovic situation – “Cannot imagine the state of mind he must be in”