The emptiness and cold behavior Novak Djokovic faces on tennis courts around world compared to his former nemesis Roger Federer and greatest rival Rafael Nadal is the primary reason why the major champion became sarcastic with the Center Court crowd at Wimbledon. And former British #1 John Lloyd has consensus on this with many others.
24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has once again made the headlines for the wrong reasons for the past few days after his latest run-in with the SW19 spectators.
The legendary Serbian had endured very rough treatment at the hands of tennis fans over the years and on this Monday decided to hit back following his R16 match against Holger Rune. The match itself was a breeze as the Serbian clinched victory in straight sets but was unhappy with the Rune fans whom he accused of being disrespectful and hurling jeers at him during the match.
“Well, to all the fans that had respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” Djokovic said during his post-match on-court interview.
“And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a gooooood night. Gooooood night, goooood night. Very good night.”
When it was put to him that many were simply vouching World #15 Rune by shouting “Ruuuuuuuuune” he stuck to his guns and asserted that it was just an excuse.
“I focus on the respectful people, they have respect, who pay a ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis,” he said.
“Love tennis and appreciate the players, appreciate the efforts that the players put in here. I have played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
BBC commentator and former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd explained that Djokovic’s reaction stemmed from years of unfair treatment he faced from the hostile crowds.
“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,” he said during BBC’s coverage.
“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, thinks it’s a bit personal, it isn’t.”
The 7-time Wimbledon Champion walked out of a BBC interview on Tuesday after being continuously questioned about his reaction to the Centre Court audiences.
After repeatedly asked same questions by the host about the incident, Djokovic responded: “Do you have any questions other than the crowd? I mean are you focused only on that or any questions about the match, or something like that? Or is it solely focused on that? This is the third question already, I said what I have to say, maybe we can speak about something else.”
The former World No. 1 had enough after one more question to leave his seat and storm out of the interview.