The Joke aiming at Nadal.....at least

here is more precise (not to say properaly quoted) statements of novak.


BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic was given a raucous welcome by around 15,000 fans in central Belgrade on Saturday following his win in the Australian Open last Sunday.

Djokovic, who had gone to his Monte Carlo residence after capturing his first Grand Slam title last Sunday, hurled his racket into the crowd from the city hall balcony and described the reception as "unreal".

"I am at a loss for words to describe how I feel and I am so grateful you all came to celebrate my victory with me," he said.

"As a child, I stood where you are standing now to admire our great athletes who had won silverware for our country in the past and now here I am. It's a very special feeling."

Djokovic beat Frenchman Joe-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 to become the first Serb to win a Grand Slam and his success sparked massive celebrations in Serbia.

The country had come to a standstill during the final while bars and restaurants crammed with fans staged parties after Djokovic's triumph.

"The pancake shop my family owns at the Mount Kopaonik skiing resort in south Serbia was so packed they couldn't fit in everybody," said Djokovic.

He added: "I took up skiing before I started playing tennis and if I had chosen another sport, it would have alpine skiing because I have so much passion for it."
Fans in Belgrade on Saturday sported Serbian flags and held banners, one of which said "See you here after Roland Garros," offering a sign that many of them expect Djokovic to keep producing results.

The 20-year-old world number three, who played in the semi-final in last year's French Open, said he was looking forward to fresh challenges.

"The Australian Open success has motivated me to work even harder, improve further as a player and I hope to win many more trophies in the future.

"I have had a good break and I am now looking forward to the rest of the season in which I hope to move up the rankings if possible.

"But the first major challenge I am looking forward to is our Davis Cup world group tie at holders Russia next week.

"They are the favorites but we have a very strong group of players who are young, have a great team spirit and an appetite for success."

(source reuters)

trixtah said:

I don't see the implication

Click to expand...

I was basing it on the following

The actual original meaning was "deserve to be", not "deserve to improve". Obviously, he feels he's actual #2, and now there's a job of proving that pointwise too.

Click to expand...

In my opinion- if one were to say that they deserve to be in a position that is otherwise occupied by another person- and that they are the actual number two- that implies that the person saying such comments does not feel that the person who is the current number two does deserve to be there at this juncture and is not the actual number two.

I am not saying this as a hater or anything. But I do think you can be confident without implying that you are more deserving to be in a position that is currently occupied by someone else. Get the points and you will be there. That's it. Aim for it, fine. But don't break out the word "deserve" because it implies that you are entitled to it and the person in your way is not.

The second article had more moderated comments- that were just fine and dandy to me. There he said he felt it was possible, etc. but did not say that he should be there because he deserves it.

Maybe it is a matter of semantics- but "deserve" is a pretty loaded word and Farenhajt stated that is exactly what Nole said.