The Book Club, Part 1: 'The Quest' takes a closer look at Djokovic

The Book Club returns for Roland Garros. This weekend I’m talking with Carole Bouchard, a freelance tennis writer based in France, about her new book, “The Quest,” which covers Novak Djokovic’s career-long chase to win Roland Garros.

Carole,

I was glad to hear about your book when you announced it was coming out last month. There hasn't been enough writing, in book form, about the Big Four era yet. We've had a couple of bios of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and autobiographies of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, but this may be the first where a journalist takes a close look at a particular period in one of their careers and gives some analysis and perspective.

I also like that Djokovic is the subject of this analysis. As you write in your introduction, he has labored for years in the shadows of Federer and Nadal—first as a player, and then as a personality. Even his "Djoker Slam," where he became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors at once, wasn't the subject of much discussion or celebration in the media.

"It was a performance that deserved better," you write, as a way of explaining why you wanted to embark on this book. And I think that's true.

You've obviously spent a lot of time observing Djokovic from up close, and interacting with him. What have you learned about him over the last couple of years as you watched his quest for the French? Is there an aspect of his personality that you think people miss, or misinterpret?

For me, I'm surprised, first of all, when people say his game is machine-like; I've always thought of it as polished, and have always enjoyed how smoothly Djokovic executes every aspect of it (away from the net, of course). I'm also surprised when fans say that his on-court act—the post-match hugs and mid-match fist pumps—is a transparent and phony attempt to win the crowd over. Having seen Djokovic in various situations with fans and media, and heard him answer the same questions dozen—if not hundreds—of times in press conferences, I'm generally amazed by how patient and professional he is. He's genuine, in my opinion.

What do you think of Djokovic as a person, Carole, and what drew you to writing about him as opposed to others in the sport?

Steve,

The lack of coverage given to what Djokovic achieved in Paris last year was shocking to me. Something no one had done in half a century: That was a huge page of tennis history written, as was his career Slam. But that's also the strength of Novak's story: he kept fighting all of this, he kept pushing against Nadal and Federer. He never doubted, and he succeeded. As his team told me, it's that chase that kept him hungry. Gebhard Gritsch, his former fitness trainer, thought Novak pays the price for what he did to Nadal and Federer, of taking a place some never thought he would.

What have I learned about Novak? I'd say the need he has to feel like he's always evolving, always improving. He'd always talk about getting better, on and off court. He had Marian Vajda and Boris Becker sometimes at a loss for words just because he couldn't stand to miss a point, couldn't stand not to hit all of his shots perfectly. Also, the need he has to feed his brain: He can't stay still and can't stop learning, and not only about tennis. It’s really a need.

I do think people miss how emotional Novak can be. He has learned to master this side of him, but it's still there. And that's why this machine image is so far from what he is. That's an absurd tag to stick to his game. All the tennis people I talked to praised his touch, how effortless he made it look, how smoothly he moves. Also, Djokovic is an extrovert, and he needs the show because he needs the energy. He can't play alone. He also loves being front and center. He loves the cheers. They all do, but Novak maybe cares more, because also, again, he's more sensitive than others. There's nothing wrong with it, and nothing unusual for a professional sports star.

That's him—that's not a part he’s playing. It’s him when he gets mad on court, snaps when he’s not in the mood and shows his rivals who the boss is. It’s him when he hugs opponents, gives points back signs autographs for every kid and stops to chat with fellow players. I'd sum up what I think people are missing with him by saying he comes with a lot of layers: all genuine, but sometimes much different. As I said in the book, you need to dig a bit deeper to understand the persona. You may like him or not, but that's worth getting right, at least.

What drew me writing about him comes from several reasons: I like his success story and I like how he fought all the odds to get his talent out there. I like the scars, too. I was there for all of the French Opens that went wrong for him and saw how it hurt him, but also how much class he showed in those defeats.

So when he finally won it, it seemed the perfect story to tell: the trauma, the demons, the rivalries, the connection with the French crowd, the battle won against himself. His rise to power in an era of greats was also fascinating. I think Novak is a really smart human being—unbelievably determined to make something of his life and to make sure he's been put on this earth for something. He's been one of the rare players I've been able to talk to about anything, from religion to politics to nutrition to what's going on with the world. A very interesting brain, no doubt.

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for Roland Garros to watch 200 live matches from up to five courts, starting with the Qualifying Rounds.

· Watch the Best of Roland Garros 2016 on-demand at any time

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for all of Roland Garros, as well as 650+ live events all year long

· Tennis Channel Plus is available on any streaming device, on mobile, always on the GO (desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire)
· Subscribe today at BuyTCPlus.com