Novak Djokovic was much in evidence at the Ryder Cup, offering support to the European team and displaying his very serviceable golf skills to the crowds at Marco Simone.
Not only did he speak informally with the players, he also made a gift to captain Luke Donald of the racket he used to win this year’s US Open final, and played in the All Star challenge prior to the main event.
This led to a rather surreal personal experience during my duties there, linked to the contents of this column last week. Because at the very time that I had a friendly encounter with Novak, I was in the early stages of being subjected to a prolonged pile-on from his social media stormtroopers.
In the hour prior to tee-off that day, the world No 1 was fiddling around on the putting green close to the media centre, and coincidentally I was walking past. With few people around, the world No 1 noticed, and made a point of coming over to say hello.
‘It’s nice to see a familiar face,’ he said, accompanied by a warm handshake.
Tennis world No 1 Novak Djokovic (above) was present at the Ryder Cup in Rome last weekend
Fans arrived in droves to watch the Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club
There was nothing especially unusual in this, as Djokovic is a gregarious type and normally generous with his time to the media. Soon he was chatting away about golf, and self-deprecatingly explaining his struggles to master one of his hobbies.
This figure who strikes terror into opponents at the other end of a court was probably nervous, and you could hardly blame him. By agreeing to tee off in front of several thousand people, the man who can claim to be the world’s greatest sportsman right now had set himself up for a fall (in the end, Djokovic striped his opening drive pretty much up the middle).
Anyway, the column had highlighted the fact that, at 36, he was actually becoming increasingly dominant over his tennis rivals. It acknowledged his undoubted brilliance, but the point was made by a former player that a contributing factor was the current weakness of the men’s top 10.
Somewhere in there was a comment that Djokovic’s monopoly may not be entirely healthy for the tour, given he plays sparingly these days.
These views are widely held within tennis, though you rarely hear them from pundits and ex-players via the various forms of media, because they are fearful of talking the sport down. It was therefore entirely predictable that the piece sparked spasms of anger on X, previously Twitter, among that odd coalition sometimes identified as the Nolefam.
An all-too familiar pattern followed — a few of them highlight the thought crime, others latch on, and it quickly sinks into a flurry of personal insults as they extol the Dear Supreme Leader.
It is a pity, because their broad underlying grievance has merit: Djokovic has not received the same love for his extraordinary feats as the much-adored Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The tennis star was in Rome supporting Team Europe as they enjoyed their Ryder Cup triumph
Djokovic watches the Foursomes session on Day One while chatting to footballer Gareth Bale
True, I have been among those who have criticised Djokovic on occasion — he is hardly someone whose career has avoided controversy — and there have been a few testy exchanges in press conferences. But there have also been laughs, and he is the most fascinating of men, highly intelligent and possessed with a relentless curiosity about life which is admirable.
He is almost unfailingly professional with the media and was amazingly generous with fans in Rome when walking around the course.
As it happens I have had several random encounters like last week’s with him over the years — a beach in France and wandering the grounds of London’s Hurlingham Club spring to mind — and they have always been cordial and rewarding.
As Wimbledon resident Michael Caine might say, ‘not a lot of people know that’.
Especially Novak’s nice social media devotees.
WHAT TENNIS MUST LEARN FROM GOLF
You would not need to be a golf fanatic to have been enthralled by the brilliant drama of the Ryder Cup, or the women’s Solheim Cup which preceded it.
Likewise, being a paid-up tennis addict was not required to revel in the eventual climax to last month’s Davis Cup finals group stage between Great Britain and France in Manchester.
The Ryder Cup generates a massive following among sports fans because it is a team event
These have a broad reach. Proof, as if it were needed, that tennis is long overdue getting its act together when it comes to maximising the potential of team events.
The golf and tennis circuits have plenty in common in that there are weeks when they roll along relatively anonymously before enjoying spikes of attention.
When it comes to team events, golf presents a far cleaner and more cohesive offering, which supports the old adage that less can be more.
Overall tennis ought not to have an inferiority complex, because to be at the Marco Simone was also a reminder of the advantages it holds. You could not fail to notice the lack of diversity in the crowd, and tennis has a much more even gender balance among spectators.
The lack of Italians there starkly contrasted to what occurs at the Foro Italico each May.
Tennis has plenty to learn from golf in terms of how it manages team events like the Davis Cup
For all its imperfections, the tennis calendar is not the worst. A decent narrative sees one world tour going from the early peak of the Australian Open in January through to September’s US Open and on to various year-end finals.
Professional golf, great product that it is, sees four Majors shoehorned into barely four months, which leaves unhealthy expanses of downtime, especially in non-Ryder Cup years. In the sphere of team internationals, however, tennis could learn a lot from its cousin.
POSTCARD FROM A LIFE ON TOUR
The truth is that most spare hours last week at the Ryder Cup were spent travelling the faintly terrifying ring roads of Rome, where every taxi driver seems to be either on their mobile phone or auditioning for a seat with Ferrari.
There was time for one new discovery, however — the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Pigneto on the east side, with a wonderful array of small bars and eateries where locals far outnumber the tourist hordes. Highly recommended, even to non-hipsters.
