Novak Djokovic has always been a polarizing figure in the tennis world. His rebel-like attitude and willingness to stand by his decisions are some of the reasons for the same. But his records speak volumes about him and his fans marvel at his prowess. One such superfan named Pavvy G has made his love and support for Djokovic clearer than ever on social media. He has time and again criticized the ATP Tour for its biases against him, and now in an interesting turn of events, Pavvy G got into a kerfuffle with the ATP Tour on X.
Pavvy G’s social media posts on X show his support for Novak Djokovic and he has time and again, also accused the ATP Tour of being more biased towards Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. This theory of biased treatment that Djokovic suffers, is a constant complaint among Djokovic fans. Pavvy G has even taken this online war against younger players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, claiming that they benefited from Djokovic’s absence for a year (which was mainly in 2022).
Now, the ATP Tour had been silently following Pavvy G on X, as was evident from their latest post. Pavvy G loves using the word ‘establishment’ before accusing them of something. Given that Pavvy G accuses them of supporting Alcaraz too, a stunning development in the ongoing Madrid Open allowed the ATP Tour to mock Pavvy G. Andrey Rublev defeated Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-final of the tournament.
Sharing via Tennis TV’s X account, they posted a clip from Rublev’s winning moment and simply wrote the words – “Establishment: STUNNED”. It was a sarcastic response aimed at Pavvy G.
Instead of being angry and clashing with them, Pavvy G saw the humor in the comment and wrote his humorous reply.
“Establishment are stunned!” wrote Pavvy G, with a smiling and ‘pair of eyes’ emojis.
Has Novak Djokovic truly suffered at the hands of the ATP Tour?
Earlier this year, during the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic spoke to The Times UK about his early years in tennis. It was a tell-all interview where Djokovic touched upon all the highlights of his career. He believes that the Western bloc, which comprises of sponsors, media people, pundits and administrators, weren’t on board with his success. Djokovic claimed that since he was from Serbia, an Eastern Bloc nation that waged wars, he didn’t get the same treatment as Western European countries.
“In the best sports rivalries, in all romantic novels, there are always two people, not three. It’s one of the reasons why I was an outsider. I don’t come from a Western country. I never had problems saying that I wanted to be #1. A lot of people didn’t like that, including them [Roger and Rafa]. That’s why I was almost instantly judged and maybe not as liked,” said Djokovic to The Times UK.
Novak Djokovic and his superfans are true to an extent since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had indeed united against him publicly in 2020 over the formation of the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association). However, things seems to have got better with time, more so with the Serb dominating the sport almost single-handedly after Federer retired in 2022 and Nadal is on his last legs.
But that interview and many others in the past gave Djokovic superfans the perfect ammunition to speak up against anyone and any authority/establishment without fear. As a result, online wars between Djokovic fans with the ATP Tour as well as other fans of Nadal, Federer, Alcaraz and Sinner began.