Novak Djokovic clashed with the Wimbledon crowd after his fourth-round victory against Holger Rune.
Bizarre scenes unfurled on Centre Court on Monday night, with Novak Djokovic accusing the Wimbledon fans of being disrespectful towards him after his straight sets victory over Holger Rune.
With the crowd supposedly having been chanting “Rune” for the Serb’s Norwegian opponent, rather than ‘Boo’ as Djokovic insisted, the tense on-court interview showed no love had been lost between the seven-time champion and the crowd.
An equally edgy interview on BBC Sport saw Djokovic walk out after just three questions, furious at the accusation that he had potentially misread the situation.
With the Serb’s appearance at this year’s championships quite miraculous in itself, given the knee injury and subsequent surgery occurring less than a month ago, Djokovic still remains on track to match Roger Federer’s eight Wimbledon titles.
What does John Lloyd think is upsetting Novak Djokovic?
The BBC’s John Lloyd has been part of the Wimbledon furniture for years, with the veteran pundit regularly appearing on panels and in the commentary booth.
With Djokovic having intercepted the finest era of tennis, he successfully broke down the likes of Federer and Rafael Nadal and now sits above them having won 24 major titles.
Lloyd suggested on coverage of Wimbledon on BBC that Djokovic is frustrated that he is not as popular with tennis fans as the likes of other former champions.
“I think deep down he gets a bit annoyed at some of his rivals, in particular Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and they were so popular on court,” said Lloyd.
“Novak, sometimes, is just not as popular as those two. Well, who would be?
“And I think sometimes he gets a little bit annoyed at it, the crowd gets on him. He thinks it’s a bit personal [but] it isn’t.”
Having been on-court during Andy Murray’s emotional Wimbledon farewell, Djokovic would’ve seen first-hand the willingness from the crowd to shower love on certain players.
Can Novak Djokovic shake off the tension and clinch his eighth Wimbledon title?
While there’s no doubt Djokovic will always be grouped with the sport’s all-time greats, he has consistently struggled to burst out of the shadow he clearly feels confined to.
Regardless of his achievements, there is almost a visible chip on the Serb’s shoulder, begging the crowd to like him but in doing so only exacerbating the lack of warm feeling.
With Alex de Minaur having limped off after his win against Arthur Fils, the Australian announced he was pulling out of the quarter-final against Djokovic, allowing the Serb a free pass to the last four and a further breather from the Centre Court crowd.
One of Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti will play the Serb in the semi-final on Friday, with neither of them having reached the last four in a major before.
Djokovic, despite not looking his total best, has managed the tournament well so far and certainly looks in pole position to challenge for the trophy once again.
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