Class

I really shouldn’t admire celebrities, as more often than not I end up disappointed, either by their behavior or my own lack of finding out more about them first. But I’ve yet to see anything yet to suggest that Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis star, is not what he appears to be in public.

Take his loss today at the Rio Olympics. He had gone as far as the bronze medal match in London 2012 only to fall short, but no one was expecting him to wash out in the first round. Though he fought hard (7-6, 7-6), he just couldn’t get it done. He was clearly disappointed, but rose to the occasion with a great deal of class and sportsmanship:

‘No doubt this is one of the toughest losses in my life and in my career,’ he said afterwards. ‘It’s not easy to handle, especially now, just after the wounds are still fresh.

‘But, you know, you have to deal with it. It’s not the first or the last time that I have lost a tennis match. But the Olympic Games, yeah, it’s completely different.

‘Delpo was the better player and he just deserved to win. That’s sport. He just came up with some extraordinary tennis and I have to congratulate him.

‘I’m very sad and disappointed from my side to go out in a tournament this early, but on the other hand I’m glad a good friend of mine, and somebody who has struggled the last couple of years with injuries, is back and playing at this level.’

His reaction doesn’t come as a surprise, and such sportsmanship is certainly not limited to Djokovic in the tennis world–I’ve seen and heard of many occasions when players will contest erroneous judging calls that were in their favor. But I like Djokovic. He doesn’t make excuses, he doesn’t throw fits (that I’ve heard of), and his interactions with and kindnesses to ball kids are the stuff of legend. So far I feel pretty safe letting my youngest son chose him as his role-model.

He’s still in the running in men’s doubles, so we’ll be keeping our familial fingers crossed. Stay classy, Novak. The world can always use more of that.