Novak Djokovic will likely receive a Rafael Nadal-like accolade at Melbourne Park, as Australian Open administrator Craig Tiley has given the go-ahead to immortalize the Serb in statue form. The decision comes amid Djokovic's strained relationship with Australian fans, who booed him off of Rod Laver Arena when he retired from his semifinal match at the Australian Open on Friday.
Tiley revealed that the decision to have a statue of Djokovic is a part of setting up a "Tennis legends" attraction, and distinguished servers of the game like Serena Williams and Roger Federer will also be honoured in the coming years.
“I’d like to have a whole precinct full of statues of the great tennis players,” Tiley told Code Sports. “Every year we put up a new statue of an Australian and this precinct is about tennis. It was built with tennis in mind and we have so many people that come here from right around the world. And I think there is more we can offer those fans from the tennis precinct.”
Tiley feels the statue of Djokovic, who won an unprecedented 10 Australian Open titles, claiming a record 99 wins, will be the right player to start with.
“I mean, he’s won this event 10 times and I still think he can win it again,” he said. “I think any time we can recognise tennis or the champions of the game I’m going to go for it. Whether it’s Novak, Roger Federer, Serena Williams – the list goes on.”
While Tiley will have to get clearance from the state government and the Olympic Parks Trust in a bid to get a statue for Djokovic, the call received mixed reactions from fans.
“He deserves it but the funny thing is that in the country where the most grand slams don’t love you, a statue does not replace the love of the public,” one tennis fan wrote on X.
Another said: “No thank you” and “Totally unnecessary”.
“A totally deserving and brilliant idea. No matter where you stand on liking him or not, it cannot be disputed that Djokovic absolutely deserves to be commemorated at Melbourne Park with a statue,” one user wrote on X.