Andy Roddick thinks Novak Djokovic’s destroying a player ranked outside the top-700 is the best proof of how ridiculous the claim was that recreational players could win points and probably games against pro players.
Several months ago, there was a poll making rounds on X when the majority of club players expressed their opinion that winning points against pro players wasn’t as hard as some would think. At the time, Roddick and some other past and present players slammed the take as nonsense.
This past weekend, Djokovic played against world No. 770 Ioannis Xilas in the Davis Cup and dismantled the Greek 6-0 6-1. Although Xilas – who is currently enjoying a career-high ranking – made some deep runs at the ITF level this year, he stood no chance against the 24-time Grand Slam champion and he just barely avoided a double bagel.
Novak Djokovic and Ioannis Xilas© X
Reacting to that result, the 2003 US Open champion cheekily wrote: “Do we remember that poll that said something like the majority of club players said that they could win a game ???”
Do we remember that poll that said something like the majority of club players said that they could win a game ??? …………. https://t.co/KKut0IYwRA
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) September 15, 2024
Djokovic made his home return
When the 37-year-old took on the 770th-ranked Greek, he was playing his Davis Cup match in Serbia since 2017. And it was quite a return.
However, Djokovic kept it respectful towards the Greek team after crushing Xilas as he acknowledged that their rivals were without Stefanos Tsitsipas and that it would have been much different with the two-time Grand Slam finalist competing.
“I am proud of the whole team first of all for showing up even though Tsitsipas is not here, Stefanos’ brother is, but their main player is not here. So they are weakened in terms of the players who came here with the lower ranking. But nevertheless the full squad,” the Serbian tennis superstar said.
On Sunday, Djokovic was slated to play against Aristotelis Thanos but since Serbia had already secured victory in the tie there was no need for him to be on the court.