Zverev: Djokovic gets hate because he 'spoiled the party' for Federer-Nadal fans

Djokovic has at times struggled to win over many tennis fans, yet World No 3 Zverev reckons the most successful player of all-time has been forced to deal with "undeserved hate" over the course of his career.

Zverev revealed that Djokovic is one of the most generous players on the men's tour, always ready to give advice to rivals as well as those coming through the ranks.

But despite the respect he commands in the locker room, the Serbian hasn't always felt the same love from tennis fans.

The most recent incident happened against Zverev in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, when Djokovic faced boos following his withdrawal from the match due to a leg injury.

Zverev said the reaction from the Melbourne crowd was misplaced, as he argued that Djokovic deserves more respect than he gets from tennis fans but is still paying the price for breaking up the Federer-Nadal era and 'spoiling the party' for two of the most beloved athletes in the world.

"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 in an interview with Tennis365.

"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.

"If he said that he can't play a semi-final with Grand Slam, that means he can't play a semi-final with Grand Slam.

"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."

Zverev said he had just trained with Djokovic and was able to pick the 24-time Grand Slam champion's brain and get some valuable advice.

"Yesterday I practiced with him and I was asking him questions about my service and I was asking questions about the return and what he was focusing on," he revealed.

"You might think he is five or six in the world and I'm No 3 in the world and we might be competing at Wimbledon at some point, so he might not want to answer my questions.

"But he is so generous and he took his time to answer and to give me suggestions. I'm not sure anybody else in the world will do that to a direct competitor of his.

"He's so generous when his answers. He actually takes his time and thinks about everything before he gives you an honest answer.  I'm not sure anyone else in that world would do that."

Some tennis experts have written off Djokovic's chances of winning a 25th Grand Slam title and moving ahead of Australia's Margaret Court in the all-time list of major winners, but Zverev is convinced the Serbian is still capable of beating anyone in the world on his day.

"I mean, he beat Carlos in Australia, he beat me at the French. I think we're both quite good players on those surfaces still. I think backing it up is maybe a bit more difficult.

"You saw it in Australia, you pulled out against me to set and then against Jannik, maybe he didn't play his best tennis, apart for the third set. In a one-off match, he can still beat anyone in the world. And I'm sure about that."

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