"It's been difficult for Novak Djokovic to not feel the same support as Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer... It's helped him achieve more" - Andy Murray

Andy Murray shared his insights on Novak Djokovic's struggle for crowd acceptance in comparison to his peers Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Murray revealed how the Serb deals with unequal crowd support and uses it to fuel his performance.

Murray is preparing for his final professional tennis tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he will compete in the doubles event with Daniel Evans. The Brit, who won two Olympic gold medals in singles in 2012 and 2016, withdrew from the singles draw due to a nagging back injury which forced him to skip the Wimbledon singles event.

Murray has had a friendly but fierce rivalry with Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer, who are collectively known as the 'Big Three' of men’s tennis. However, among the trio, the Serb has often faced the challenge of winning over the hearts of the fans, who tend to root for the fierce Nadal or the elegant Federer.

In a candid interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Murray offered his perspective on why the World No. 2 has struggled to gain the same level of adoration as his peers.

"I think it’s obviously at times been difficult for him because Nadal and Federer before Novak became the best player in the world in terms of titles and everything, the best male player, he’s won the most grand slams and had an unbelievable career that Rafa and Roger were so loved and had a brilliant rivalry," Murray said.

"I think Novak [Djokovic ] has huge support around the world. I think at times it has been difficult for him to not feel the same support from the crowd as Rafa and Roger got but he still does have massive support around the world. I think he’s extremely well respected not just in tennis, but in in world sports because of all of his achievements," he added.

Murray concluded that the Serb has often played some of his best tennis where the crowd hasn’t been behind him.

"I think at times he’s thrived on that as well. When the crowd hasn’t been behind him, he’s played some of his best tennis and his best matches when that hasn’t been the case. So, in a strange way, it’s maybe helped him achieve more, but I think it’s been hard for him at time," he continued.

Andy Murray and Daniel Evans will face the Japanese pair of Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori in the first round on July 28.

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Novak Djokovic has a dominating head-to-head record against Andy Murray

Andy Murray (L) and Novak Djokovic (R)

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have met 36 times in their professional careers, with the former leading 25-11 overall and 11-8 in finals. They have also faced each other in all four Grand Slam tournaments, with the Serb winning eight out of ten matches.

They met for the first time in the Round of 16 at the 2006 Madrid Masters, where the Serb prevailed in three sets. They played their first tour-level final at the 2008 Cincinnati Masters, where Murray won in two tiebreaks.

The last time they played was in the final of the 2017 Qatar Open, where Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in three sets.