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State of the Tennis U.S Open and the Interesting Behind-the-Scenes Persona of Novak Djokovic

SI's Jon Wertheim shares the topics he hits in this week's Mailbag
Jon Wertheim|

In this week's mailbag, SI senior writer Jon Wertheim discusses the very talented and eccentric Novak Djokovic. While a star on the court, Djokovic has a unique worldview that sets him apart from his peers. The state of the U.S. Open is also discussed in this week's Mailbag.

Video Transcript:

This week, we talk a bit about Novak Djokovic, what's happened with him, and I make the point that for a player who is so steady and so balanced when he plays tennis - he sure gets himself in a lot of awkward positions and sometimes gets caught flat-footed away from tennis. So whether it's his remarks that he's anti-vax, or whether it's his theory that positive energy can improve water quality. We talk about how it is that Novak Djokovic gets himself into this position. One point I think we should bring up is sometimes we lament that athletes are so polished and so corporatized and so bland. You have to hand it to Novak Djokovic. One thing, he is not is bland. 

We also talk about the state of tennis media. We talk about some doubles and we talk about what it will take for this 2020 U.S. Open to go off as planned.

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Jon Wertheim
JON WERTHEIM

Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat, sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for “60 Minutes” and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor’s in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City and Paris with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.

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