hanasi Kokkinakis described Novak Djokovic’s online fans as “abusive” and added that they are very easy to spot since they have a crocodile emoji in their bios, which is a reference to the Serb’s Lacoste partnership.
Over the last couple of years, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion has been one of the most criticized and scrutinized players. Especially during the early stages of the pandemic and his refusal to take the vaccine. Also, there was that infamous Australia visa saga.
However, whenever Djokovic gets heavily scrutinized, he can always count on his fans to come to his defense. For the 37-year-old, it is probably a great thing to have someone trying to defend his name but obviously there are some who have major issues with those supporters.
“In tennis Twitter, if you like Djokovic, everyone has this little Lacoste emoji. They have this little crocodile. You know they are a Djokovic fan if they have that and they are just abusing you,” Kokkinakis told Denis Shapovalov and Dominic Thiem during a conversation at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
Andy Roddick had a similar take on Djokovic’s fans a couple of months ago
On his podcast, the 2003 US Open champion suggested that he was afraid at times to say certain things about the former world No. 1 because he feared the backlash from his fanbase.
“I’m so scared of Nole’s Twitter people. I say something like he was breathing heavily and even though he was breathing heavily, they are like ‘screw you!’ I just get stuff from them all the time,” Roddick said.
Throughout this year, Djokovic was hearing the talk that he was being replaced by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the game.
After hiring Andy Murray as his coach, there is no doubt that the current world No. 7 will enter the 2025 season determined to get back to winning Grand Slams.
Tennis World USA