Ninety minutes after Novak Djokovic had accused the Wimbledon crowd of disrespect on Monday night, it was a BBC interviewer who was the target of his ire. After three reasonable questions on the subject that everyone was talking about, the 24-times grand-slam singles champion decided he had had enough of talking about rowdy spectators.
“Do you have any other questions other than the crowd?” Djokovic asked Sam Harris late on Monday night. “Are you focused on only that or [are there] any questions about the match or something like that? This is the third question already. I have said what I have to say.”
Harris, to his credit, respected Djokovic’s wishes and asked for his thoughts on his next opponent, Alex de Minaur. “Yeah, I look forward to it,” Djokovic replied. “It’s going to be a tough one. Thanks.”
With that, Djokovic was up out of his chair before Harris had barely got a word out for his next question. It was far from the angriest walkout ever seen but the sentiment was still clear as he abruptly cut short the interview.
Gone are the days in which Djokovic would turn to all four sides of the stadium after a win and cup his hands out from his chest as if he was spreading out his love. Instead he is embracing his role as the pantomime villain, and he is all the more authentic for it.
Perhaps he went a step too far during his fourth-round match against Denmark’s Holger Rune on Monday. It did sound as if fans of his opponent were merely making a lingering chant of “Ruuune” rather than repeatedly booing. Frankly, Djokovic came across as if he was picking a fight.
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It sums up, however, the change in Djokovic’s mindset when it comes to support from the stands. For much of his career he tried a little too hard to gain the backing of tennis crowds around the world and often seemed miffed that he was struggling to receive the same level of fandom as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
• Novak Djokovic accuses Wimbledon crowd of disrespect
Ever since he moved ahead of Nadal in the all-time grand-slam count by winning No23 at last year’s French Open, Djokovic has looked more comfortable in his own skin. Becoming the undisputed greatest men’s player of all time has eased the need to gain the approval of those who have never been keen on him. As he said on court on Monday: “You guys can’t touch me.”
According to the respected author Mark Hodgkinson in his new book, Searching for Novak, there is a Kobe Bryant quote that Djokovic particularly likes. Bryant, an American basketball legend, was a close friend of Djokovic before he died in a helicopter crash in 2020. “Haters are a good problem to have,” Bryant said. “Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.”
Those who work with Djokovic on the tour have also privately noticed the self-assurance he has gained from an increasing number of friendships with fellow sportspeople. Last September he is said to have been pleasantly surprised by the way in which he was welcomed to the European Ryder Cup camp in Rome, and he has had both Gareth Bale and Ronnie O’Sullivan sitting in his player’s box at Wimbledon this fortnight. Trying to be liked by Joe Bloggs is not so important when you already have the backing of esteemed achievers from the world of sport.
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Djokovic will have to get used to this developing trend among sports fans to make supportive chants that sound similar to boos. Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo started the “Siuuu” celebration at Real Madrid it has become commonplace to hear “Rooot” when Joe Root is playing cricket or “Luuuke” when Luke Donald is on the golf course. Even Sue Barker was greeted by a “Suuue” when she walked out on Centre Court last Thursday night for Andy Murray’s farewell ceremony.
It is also not particularly new in the match-up between Djokovic and Rune, as the latter pointed out.
“It all started in the US Open the first time we played each other when I was 18 [in 2021],” Rune said. “If you don’t know what was happening, probably it sounded like ‘boo’. But if we all know what happened, it was my name.
“Obviously he’s played so many matches since he played me last time [Djokovic leads Rune 4-2 in their head-to-head record]. If he didn’t remember, it could probably sound different for him. Whether the crowd was this or that, I think it was great support for both players, to be honest. They were supporting him on good points. They were supporting me, [there were] nice scenes out there on Centre Court.”
Even Djokovic acknowledged there is little action Wimbledon organisers could take. Thankfully for him, all of his possible remaining opponents this fortnight — starting with De Minaur in Wednesday’s quarter-finals — do not have the required combination of letters to prompt boo-sounding chants.
“I don’t know what Wimbledon can really do about it,” Djokovic said. “In those particular moments when it happens, the crowd paid for their tickets. They have the right to be there and cheer the way they want to cheer.
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“Yes, you could argue maybe a chair umpire or whoever can step in in certain moments and calm them down, but there’s not much you can do. You’re not going to take out the whole section of the crowd or stadium because they’re misbehaving or showing disrespect.
“All the true tennis fans that respect players, you’re going to support one player or the other. 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.”
