Murray vs Djokovic: Who is more popular

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Over the last 6 years these two players have become household names of tennis fans all across the globe.
Even though neither of them have yet reached the popularity of Tennis Superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/06/24/Facebook-Nadal-Federer.aspx) they are still rising in popularity as they continue to attract fans with their hard work, determination, and tennis.

The Stats:
On Facebook Andy Murray has 567,077 likes. Meanwhile Novak Djokovic has 2,023,121 likes, nearly four times more.
On Twitter Andy Murray has 838,146 followers but Novak Djokovic has marginally more followers with 961,947.
According to the StarCount Popularity figures (http://www.starcount.com/chart/tennis/4f2ad5772418ae215b0001d0/today/9) Andy Murray is currently the 7th most popular tennis player in the world while Novak Djokovic is the 4th.

Therefore having studied these stats I have come come to the conclusion that throughout the world Novak Djokovic is more popular than Andy Murray, but not by that much.
Why is this, some may ask?

Factor number 1/ Success-
Let's be brutally honest here. The more successful you are the more chance you have of gaining more fans. Now I'm not doubting that Andy Murray is a successful tennis player, being the best British player since Sir Fred Perry, BUT over the last two years Novak Djokovic has raised his game to a new level. Starting with the Australian Open last year Novak Djokovic went on a fantastic run which included over 30 unbeaten games; this run was ended by Federer in Roland Garros, but after that Djokovic recovered to win the next 3 Grand Slams! I distinctly remember checking the Facebook stats a few years ago and observing that Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic had practically the same number of Facebook fans. Now after Djokovic is world number 1 he has nearly 4 times the Facebook fans Andy Murray has. Coincidence? I think not.

Factor number 2/ Personality-
From what I have observed both men have a good sense of humour, albeit slightly different. Novak Djokovic wowed the world with his hilarious impersonations of top tennis players a few years ago- this really caught the eye of the public. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLJohXgN9wM&feature=related
While Djokovic's humour is more expressive Murray has a drier sense of humour. I do feel here in Great Britain people unfairly label Murray due to his on-court persona. And yes Murray doesn't look that cheerful when playing tennis- but does this mean we can suddenly make assumptions on what he is like in real life? Clearly from what I have seen Murray's 'miserable' face while playing does not reveal his real life personality. He is often humorous in interviews and does provide us with some brilliant quotes- http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25062011/58/murray-scolds-mum-deliciano-antics.html

Factor number 3/ False Claim-
While Djokovic is practically a national hero in Serbia and loved by all Andy Murray has not yet achieved the same popularity back home in Britain. In England especially there is a myth that 'Andy Murray hates England.' This is based on a quote Andy said a few years ago when he said he would 'support anyone but England in the World Cup.' He himself has revealed this was just banter- a joke taken out of context. However there are many people who have not yet forgiven him for this- trying to make out that he is some sort of figure for Scottish Independence and hates the English. Frankly ridiculous, and even more so considering that he has an English girlfriend, has English roots and he majority of his team are English.

Thank-you for reading, would be great to here your view

IMBL

I would certainly say a lot of it is down to success. There are countries in the world such as the USA in which success is everything and being mightily competitive consistently counts for nothing if you lose slam finals. Harsh but true and those sorts of countries will draw Djokovic fans unlike Murray will until or providing he ever wins a slam.

CaledonianCraig wrote:I would certainly say a lot of it is down to success. There are countries in the world such as the USA in which success is everything and being mightily competitive consistently counts for nothing if you lose slam finals. Harsh but true and those sorts of countries will draw Djokovic fans unlike Murray will until or providing he ever wins a slam.

Interesting CC, I tend to agree with you. No doubt if and when Murray wins a slam he will have a burst of popularity with suddenly people claiming 'I knew he would do it all along'

Great article IMBL...

The Facebook gap is probably the bigger determinant of popularity. As TWITTER is strong in the UK I'm not surprised the gap is cloase there.

I agree the myth element with Andy not liking England is a key factor...I dont think that has helped him. But more than that I think most people believe Djokovic has a more sunny disposition in front of the cameras and on-court.

Interesting how much bigger Nadal and Federer are though with numbers of Facebook followers 5 times greater than that of Djokovic. Murray's number looks quite look on Facebook...I wonder if anyone has looked at the top 10-20...i.e. is Andy's popularity ranking equal to his ATP ranking? But then I dont know how strong Facebook is in other countries.

Nole by far.

Bump to increase number of comments.

I think Andy has more potential being from an english speaking nation and a larger media market. But as others have pointed out until you win the big one its going to be hard to break into the highest levels of popularity or marketablity. I think the OP makes a good point in that both are still gaining popularity and notoriety as the casual fan who isn't as aware may not still have had enough exposure. The type of sports fan who will watch a final from time to time. But Rafa and Roger have been unique in the annals of the sport in terms of their popularity so I think it is hard to compare to them. But if both guys keep playing great over the years and lift big trophies they will close the gap immensely.

I came across this forum dedicated to Murray:
http://www.talk-sports.net/atp/sucks.aspx/Andy_Murray

Not sure Novak has a dedicated forum.

For this reason, Murray should be considered more popular.

Only the following people like Djoko:

1. His family,
2. Most, not all Serbs (Fed is loved there too, Nadal is nationally hated)
3. People from suppressed non-democratic countries (Russia, some Arab countries etc)
4. Any one married to a Serb.
5. Random people who always cheer for the current No1 in any sport.

Jahu and also

True story that one!!! You heard it here first, mark my words etc (jersey style stuff)

What story?

Lef, Murray or Djoko is the OP. Questioning me is not the essence of this amusing post.

Be amused or be questioned!

I enjoy reading stories. Where is the story?