Imagine for a second—close your eyes if it helps—and picture Novak Djokovic playing in a Grand Slam final where he's the crowd favorite. The 23,000-plus fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium chant his name, “No-vak! No-vak! No-vak!”
Sixteen Grand Slam titles, including three US Opens, and five year-end No. 1 finishes have endeared the 32-year-old Serb to millions. He's cheered for and adored throughout the world, from Melbourne to Paris, and from London to New York.
Yet in popularity off the court, he's been unable to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer was the overwhelming crowd favorite in this year's Wimbledon final and in their 2015 US Open title match. And both Nadal and Federer's followings on social media dwarf Djokovic's. (On Twitter: Nadal: 15.7 million; Federer: 12.6 million; Djokovic 8.7 million).
But it's not just against Federer and Nadal, who arguably have the two largest fan bases in men's tennis history, where Djokovic hears his opponent's name shouted more often. During the 2018 US Open final, when Djokovic faced Juan Martin del Potro, chants of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Del-po, Del-po!” ricocheted off the closed roof.
To some, this would be the end of them, the tirades would begin and their chances would flee. But that's never been the case for Djokovic. He hears their shouts, digests them and, on the inside, grins, or, as he says, he practices “transmutating.”
“I like to transmutate it in a way,” he said after the Wimbledon final. “When the crowd is chanting 'Roger,' I hear 'Novak.' It sounds silly, but it is like that. I try to convince myself that it's like that.”
After last year's US Open final against del Potro, Djokovic said, “This might sound funny to me, but my nickname is Nole. When they shout 'Olé, olé, olé, olé,' that's what I hear. I actually make myself hear that, to be honest, no word of a lie. I really do.”
Every time Djokovic explains the mental trick, it's almost as if he knows how crazy it sounds, he knows he needs to go further in his explanation. "No word of a lie. I really do."
“I like to transmutate it in a way.... When the crowd is chanting 'Roger,' I hear 'Novak.' - Novak Djokovic
You believe him, though. How else to explain the mental strength of a man who, when he faces his top two rivals, never has the crowd behind him yet wins more than he loses?
Djokovic leads his head-to-head against Federer, 26-22, including six of their last seven, and in the most-played head-to-head matchup in Open era history, Djokovic leads Nadal, 28-26.
“He just has a great ability to focus on what's in front of him,” Brad Gilbert, ESPN analyst and former world No. 4, told USOpen.org. “A lot of times that stuff can fuel you, but if you don't have the ability, it doesn't matter. His ability and when he's playing at his level, it's just insane.”
Gilbert coached former US Open champions Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, and he's sat courtside and watched the best, including Federer and Nadal. But from that vantage point, on the same level of the players, no one compares to Djokovic.
“If he's totally playing at his highest level, I've never seen anybody, from a courtside position, from where I sit and where I watch, that plays better than him,” Gilbert said.
Djokovic's return of serve or his Gumby-like flexibility warrants clicks and time spent on pages. But to Gilbert, what makes the Serb the best he's ever seen from up close is his ability to enter “lockdown mode” and never depart.
“He plays just a lot of quality shots, and he doesn't make unforced errors, and he makes you have to beat him,” Gilbert said. “He plays cross court so often to big targets, but yet he's making progress.”
Gilbert aptly calls it “ball-control offense,” to borrow a phrase from football. Control the pace of the game, yet don't become impatient and go for it all on one play. Keep moving the chains.
He witnessed it in Australia, when, for the first time in 25 Grand Slam finals, Nadal didn't win a set.
“You start to look at him, like, 'Uh oh, he's in lockdown mode.' And if he's in lockdown mode, see if you can win a set,” Gilbert said.
Djokovic has entered that place most frequently on hard courts, where's he won 55 of his 75 titles. In Flushing, the top seed has made the semifinals or better in his past 11 appearances, which includes eight finals (3-5).
“I don't know if he has a best or worst surface, that's how good he is,” Gilbert said.
Djokovic has defended his Australian Open titles three times and his Wimbledon championships twice, but never in Flushing Meadows. Both times he tried, he finished runner-up.
This Flushing fortnight, Djokovic, who has spent his career chasing Federer and Nadal, will chase his own marker.
