'Where's Novak Djokovic?' - Wimbledon accused of disrespect towards champion

Tennis365 17.06.2023 06:54:22 Tennis365
Novak Djokovic with the Wimbledon trophy

Wimbledon officials have come under social media fire after they appeared to make a huge omission from one of their key pre-tournaments publicity moments.

All England Club chiefs release a video every year that is used on social media platforms and it is seen as one of the key promotional moments of their year.

This year's edition features cartoon images of famous faces from Wimbledon's past and present, with most of the big names in tennis getting a look-in.

The official release of the video came with this tagline:

"The 2023 Wimbledon campaign, 'Always Like Never Before', looks to the future of 'The Championships' while honouring its iconic history, contrasting the tradition of SW19 with a new era of players making their mark on the game."

Eight-time champion Roger Federer gets a mention, Rafael Nadal is also included, as well as John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Andy Murray.

Yet Djokovic only gets a brief image included in the montage, even though the defending champion is heading into this year's event looking to equal Federer's all-time record of eight Wimbledon titles.

Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey took to Twitter to question why Djokovic was given such a small role in the video.

That opinion was backed up by coaching guru Patrick Mouratoglou, who was also bemused by the lack of images of the great Serbian champion in the production that has attracted several thousand views on social media plaforms.

The official press release introducing the film also appeared to neglect Djokovic's Wimbledon legend it read:

In anticipation of this year's Championships, The All England Lawn Tennis Club has unveiled its 2023 campaign, Always Like Never Before. This year's creative platform features a historic series of 'like never before' moments at SW19 and, in an exciting and contemporary move, Wimbledon has joined forces with Scottish-American hip-hop and electronic producer, composer and DJ, Hudson Mohawke, on an electrifying soundtrack to set the tone for the launch.

Spearheading the campaign is a rousing trailer which fuses a mixture of archive footage, illustration, animation and photography to reimagine historic Wimbledon moments as timeless, epic filmic posters.

Each montage heroes and immortalises iconic Wimbledon moments from the likes of Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe juxtaposing them with contemporary history makers and rising stars like Coco Gauff, Nick Kyrgios, Ons Jabeur and Alfie Hewett.

Once again, Djokovic's names was missing from the press release, with players adding their quotes at the request of the All England Club:

Speaking about the trailer, former world No.1 men's wheelchair tennis player, Alfie Hewett commented: "Tennis has given me so many opportunities throughout my life and I'll always be grateful for that. Every match I play - whether it's at Wimbledon or on tour around the world - is a chance to inspire a new generation of young people to pick up a racket and enjoy the sport. Always Like Never Before is a great concept for this year's trailer. There's so much history and heritage at Wimbledon, but each year there's a new story to be written and I can't wait to be part of it."

American Coco Gauff, whose epic win against Venus Williams is showcased in the trailer, added: "I was only 15 years old when I made my Grand Slam main draw debut at Wimbledon in 2019 and seeing the match against Venus in the trailer brings back all the emotions from that day. I'm really looking forward to returning in a few weeks and hopefully playing back on Centre Court."

Cameron Norrie, British No.1, added: "Playing at Wimbledon is something every tennis player dreams of. It's particularly special to me as it's my home court and the support I get from the crowd is unbelievable. There's nothing like the sound of a British crowd cheering for one of their own and I can't wait to play there in a few weeks' time."

It remains to be seen whether Djokovic was asked to play a more prominent role in this production as a seven-time champion, but questions are being asked about a release that doesn't appear to give him the respect his record suggests he deserves.

READ MORE: 'It has to be Federer' - Tennis greats not convinced Djokovic has won GOAT race

samedi 17 juin 2023 09:54:22 Categories:

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