Was Novak Djokovic actually booed at Wimbledon as he brands crowd 'disrespectful'?

Tennis player Novak Djokovic has labelled sections of the Wimbledon crowd “disrespectful” after believing he was being booed for the whole match.

Djokovic is a 24 time grand slam-winning tennis champion, but his career hasn’t been without controversy. He was hailed as a hero by the right-wing over his stance on the Covid vaccine and sparked backlash during the 2023 Wimbledon final after smashing his racquet against the net post in a match he eventually lost.

He is no stranger to run-ins with the crowd and was at it again during his fourth round Wimbledon match against the Danish player Holger Rune last night (8 July) on Centre Court.

Rune was the clear underdog going into the match and Wimbledon fans tried to give him a morale boost by shouting his surname, “Rune”.

But it seems the Serbian icon mistook the cheering for his opponent as booing him and made sure they knew about it during his post-match interview on court after defeating Rune.

He said: “To all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a gooood night.”

When the interviewer suggested they were saying “Rune”, rather than disrespecting him, Djokovic disagreed.

“I don’t accept it. No, no, no. I know they were cheering for Rune but that’s an excuse to also boo,” Djokovic said. “Listen, I’ve been on the tour for more than twenty years so, trust me, I know all the tricks, I know how it works.”

He continued: “I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guy’s can’t touch me.”

By that point, some members of the Centre Court crowd did appear to start actually booing Djokovic following his stern words.

Djokovic will now face the Australian player Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Championships.

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