Marion Bartoli makes interesting remarks regarding Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is showing no sign of stopping even at the age of 36 as he clinched three Grand Slams in 2023 with the Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open to his name.

Former French tennis player Marion Bartoli made an interesting remark regarding the men’s world no. 1 saying that he would have been more popular had he not come from a small country like Serbia.

Not only did the 2013 Wimbledon champion say that, she further emphasised that if the 24-time Grand Slam triumphant was from the United States, he would’ve had statues everywhere.

"Of course it’s not just the fact that he is Serbian. We know very well that if Novak was American, he'd have a statue in every city. The fact that he is Serbian means that he is not as publicised. Coming from a small Eastern European country, with a recent painful past, affects one's popularity rating,” she said in an interview for RMC.

Bartoli's comments came after Djokovic said that if he was from the West, he would have been more glorified.

"I leave that up to you and everyone else, whether or not I deserve to be part of that discussion... but one thing is a fact, though — if I wasn’t from Serbia, I’d have been glorified on a sporting level many years ago, especially in the West," the Serb said.

It must be noted that just after winning the 2023 US Open, Djokovic is back practising on the court and is representing his country at the Davis Cup.

He helped his country reach the quarterfinals of the tournament beating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to cement his side’s place in the last eight.

However, after Serbia’s place in the quarterfinals was confirmed, Djokovic did not play singles in the final tie against Czech Republic but he did feature in doubles alongside his countryman Nikola Cacic, which he ended up losing in three sets against Adam Pavlasek and Tomas Machac.

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