Tennis players throwing tantrums on the court mid-game has been an age-old part of the game. And the most common medium of expressing that anger is smashing their tennis rackets, although a certain Rafael Nadal is an exception. From the hot-tempered John McEnroe to wildcard entrant turned Grand Slam winner, Goran Ivanisevic, everybody has expressed that. Among the modern-day greats, Novak Djokovic is someone who stands out for his anger issues. He also has a penchant for smashing his rackets.
Although a very nice and friendly person off the court, Djokovic isn’t easygoing at all while playing. He often makes it incredibly difficult for his opponent, chair umpires, and even the audience to like him for it. A stat shared by an Instagram user Miguel Angel Sanchez, possibly a Rafael Nadal fan, shows that Novak Djokovic has smashed his racket a staggering 62 times in his career. Compare that to Roger Federer, who has only smashed it 5 times in his career.
Novak Djokovic fans love him for his tenacity and aggression on the court. Therefore, they scoff at any time their hero’s anger issues are brought up via a stat or otherwise. In response, they often cite Roger Federer’s anger issues from his early days. While it’s true Federer did have anger issues when he came into the circuit in the early 2000s as a young player, he has since grown leaps and bounds into being the most liked professional tennis player. He even tried to mimic John McEnroe in a Mercedes-Benz ad by smashing rackets in it.
Federer even showed his anger towards Djokovic at the 2006 Davis Cup. This is when the latter was constantly taking breaks and bringing in his physio on the court. This went a long way in sowing the seeds of their rivalry. Instead of smashing rackets, Federer mostly mitigated his anger issues by arguing with umpires and showing visible disgust on his face over his opponents.
However, the main point of Miguel Angel Sanchez’s post seemed to be about paying tribute to Rafael Nadal. While Djokovic stands at 62, and Federer at 5, Rafael Nadal has never once smashed his racket during a game. There are moments when Nadal gets angry. He argued with umpires, responded angrily at the press, and has even been furious at his opponents, like once with Nick Kyrgios who once aimed directly at him and hit the ball during a Wimbledon match. But he never took it out on his rackets, showing magnificent self-control.
This goes back to Nadal’s upbringing and his early coaching days with his uncle Toni Nadal. He learned from his uncle that irrespective of how difficult and intense the situation gets, so much that it may even look unfair at times, to never lose his cool. Nadal learned from an early age to always respect the game and opponents, irrespective of the outcome.
This is the reason Nadal has never smashed a racket, never lashed out at his opponent for a single match, set, or even a point in his career. However, on the same issue, Nadal commented in an interview recently that while it is true Djokovic has smashed rackets in anger after losing, his ability to bounce back immediately by regaining his focus and composure while giving it his everything, is admirable.
