The 37-year-old Serbian, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, was seen pursing his lips towards the Centre Court crowd after clinching a tight second set against the 21-year-old Danish player. Djokovic ultimately secured a straight-sets victory, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarter-finals.
Following his win, Djokovic gave a pointed courtside interview: “To all the fans that have respect and stayed here late tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart – I appreciate it,” he said.
“And to all the people that chose to disrespect a great player, in this case me, have a gooooood night,” he continued. “I don’t accept it. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s no excuse to boo.”
Djokovic, who has been on the tour for more than two decades, emphasised his experience with hostile crowds: “I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years, so trust me, I know all the tricks and how it works. It’s fine. I’ll focus on the respectful people that pay the ticket to come and watch tonight that love tennis and appreciate the effort that the players put in here. I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
Djokovic on crowd behaviour
During the post-match press conference, Djokovic was asked if tournament officials should intervene when crowd behaviour crosses the line. “I don’t know what Wimbledon can really do about it,” he replied.
“The crowd paid their tickets. They have the right to be there and cheer the way they want to cheer. That’s absolutely something they choose, how they behave or how they choose to support the player is really up to them,” he said.
Umpires’ limits and Djoko’s message
He also suggested that while umpires might intervene to calm the crowd, there are limitations: “You’re not going to take out the whole section of the crowd or stadium because they’re misbehaving or showing disrespect. It’s just the way it is. It’s part of the sport. It’s actually one of the biggest reasons why we are here, why the tournament is so important historically and why we were globally recognised as tennis players, is because of the fans, because of the interest that they put into watching tennis matches, paying tickets, queuing to come. I respect that. I try to acknowledge that.”
Djokovic concluded with a message to true tennis fans: “All the true tennis fans that respect players, of course, you’re going to support one player or the other. It’s obviously solely up to them. It’s fully understandable that they have the freedom to choose who they back in the match.”
“But if somebody steps over the line, I react. That’s basically what it was. After the match I said what I said,” he added.
Kyrgios challenges Djokovic’s view
Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios disputed Djokovic’s theory, stating that fans were simply supporting Rune.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Kyrgios said, “It wasn’t [booing] but I think crowds all around the world need to understand that Novak doesn’t need more of a motive to play better.”
“He’s driven, one of the best players in the world and I’ve seen it time and time again, the crowd try to poke the bear and that’s not what you want to do against Novak. He loves it. I try not to poke the bear when I play him…and I really struggle with that. Obviously, it cost me my Wimbledon final. He doesn’t need more of a motive to go out there and prove to someone he is the greatest of all time,” Kyrgios said.
First Published: Jul 09 2024 | 11:46 AM IS