The joke Andy Roddick once made about Novak Djokovic that he did not take well at all 

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Novak Djokovic has not always seen eye to eye with some of his fellow competitors over the years.

The Serb, who divides opinion himself throughout the tennis world, has had personal disagreements and long-running tension with a number of stars during his career.

While they did not really feud, the early stages of Djokovic‘s relationship with longtime rivals Rafael Nadal and, particularly, Roger Federer were not exactly warm.

He has also had off-court spats with Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios, with the 24-time-Grand Slam champion once claiming he did not have ‘much respect’ for the Australian.

There was one incident, though, that Djokovic once had with former US Open champion Andy Roddick, who made a joke about him that was not well-received.

Andy Roddick’s comments about Novak Djokovic in 2008

Roddick and Djokovic were set to face off for the third time in their careers in the quarterfinals of the 2008 US Open.

The two had split wins in their first two meetings on the ATP Tour, with Djokovic winning the maiden clash in Canada, and Roddick earning revenge in Dubai.

Prior to the US Open bout, Roddick had made comments about Djokovic, suggesting he was faking several injuries.

As reported by ESPN that year, the American had stated: “He’s either quick to call the trainer, or he’s the most courageous guy of all time. I think it’s up for you guys to decide.”

After receiving the allegation, Djokovic went on to defeat Roddick 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 to advance to the semifinals, and had words for his opponent in his on-court interview after the match.

In front of the Roddick-favouring US crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium he said: “You know, Andy was saying I have 16 injuries in the last match. Obviously, I don’t, right?”

Djokovic’s words were met with a shower of boos from the Flushing Meadows fans, to which he said: “They’re already against me because they think I’m faking everything, so it’s all right.”

That comment did not help the cause, and the boos got louder.

Despite the downpour of jeers, Djokovic continued: “That’s not nice, anyhow, to say in front of the crowd that I have 16 injuries and that I’m faking it.”

Responding to Djokovic’s reaction to the joke, Roddick said: “I decided to make light of the situation. I’m sorry he took it that way. I don’t think I was over the line. It wasn’t my intention. Maybe I did him a favour tonight.

“If you’re going to joke and imitate other people, then you should take it. Take it with a smile. That’s the only part I don’t get.”

Novak Djokovic’s apology to Andy Roddick after his comments

Perhaps realising he had failed to take the joke in the light-hearted way in which it was intended, soon after, Djokovic issued an apology to Roddick.

He said: “Unfortunately, Andy made a statement. I don’t think it was intentional. I don’t blame it on him. I did react on the court. Maybe I reacted bad in that moment. I apologise. It was impulsive.

“I maybe made a mistake by saying that in front of 20,000 people in his city and his favourite tournament.

“I had the very, very tough day yesterday. Physically, I was feeling very exhausted and empty. I wasn’t able to practice.

“Mentally, a lot of pressure. I had a lot of emotions in the last two days. It’s not nice when you get that from the media and players. I never made medical timeout because I wanted [to] distract the player or make the result look worse.”

Roddick won his next four meetings with Djokovic, but lost their last two at the 2010 ATP Finals, and the 2012 London Olympics.