Aug 16 2008

How do you pronounce Djokovic's name?

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Djokovic =  D"jock"ovitsch or D"joke"ovitsch?

During the French Open this year, Novak insisted on the "jock" pronunciation, but about a month ago he switched back and insisted on the "joke" pronunciation. Having grown up in Europe around a slew of pronunciations, instinctively, and comparing the pronunciation to other Serbian and Croatian names, the "jock" version seemed more appropriate. That's why I figured the "joke" pronunciation was simply American commentators goofing up yet another pronunciation. Turns out they were simply heeding his requests.

Other tennis name pronunciation slip ups

Frank Dancevic, Canadian touring pro, had a similar issue with his name. He has insisted that people pronounce his name ending in "itsch" as opposed to "ik". And Malivai Washington was always called "maliVAY" by commentators and fans, until he insisted that the pronunciation was "maliVIA". This one is not so obvious, as the average person would probably guess the former based on the ordering of the letters. Nevertheless, I feel like since people didn't have the liberty to choose their own names, we should at least give them the freedom to pronunciate it like they see fit.

 

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