Jim Courier calls for Australian public to ease up on Novak Djokovic

Former world No. 1 Jim Courier has called for Australian public to ease up on Novak Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open. 

After 72 players were placed in a strict quarantine, Djokovic called for looser quarantine restrictions for quarantined players. 

Djokovic's suggestions were rejected and the Serb found himself on the receiving end of criticism.

"Novak has gone out of his way to stand up for other players in Australia," Courier told Nine News.

"He was being a leader and it just came off wrong in the public and I hope the Australian public will give him another chance to at least explain himself."

Courier thinks Djokovic should be a fan favorite player

"He is sensitive to public opinion," Courier said.

"He spends energy trying to court public opinion and based on what he's done on the court he should be a huge fan favourite; he's just come up at a time that a lot of the fan base have decided they're a Roger (Federer) fan or a Rafa (Nadal) fan."

After Djokovic provided his list of requests, Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews bluntly rejected the Serb.

“People are free to provide lists of demands but the answer is no,” Andrews said.

“I know that there’s been a bit of chatter from a number of players about the rules - well, the rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else, and they were all briefed on that before they came and that was a condition on which they came.

“There’s no special treatment here.”

Meanwhile, Courier thinks the time spent away from the game could help Kyrgios.

"Maybe this could be something that triggers something really positive for him," Courier said of Kyrgios not playing since February 2020.

"You don't want to play him if you're in the player field because he's so unpredictable and powerful and he's going to have the crowd behind him."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36f7jgd