On Monday, Novak Djokovic defeated Holger Rune to reach the quarterfinals of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. But according to Djokovic, the match had less than ideal conditions due to the “disrespectful” crowd.
Throughout the match, Rune received a good amount of crowd support, receiving a drawn-out “Rune” chant for much of the contest.
Djokovic seemingly mistook the chants for Rune as boos for him, and he voiced his frustration with the fans in his post-match interview.
“To all the fans that have respect and that stayed here tonight: Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate it. And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case, me. Have a goooood night. Gooooood night. Gooooood night. Very gooooood night,” said Djokovic, mimicking the drawn-out chants for his opponent by stretching out the “Os” in “good.”
The interviewer then chimed in, attempting to persuade Djokovic that the crowd’s chants were seemingly more supporting Rune instead of outwardly booing him.
“I’m hoping that they were just commenting on Rune and that they weren’t disrespecting you.”
Djokovic immediately disagreed, continuing on with his rant about the crowd.
“They were, they were, they were,” said Djokovic. “I don’t accept it. No, no, no, I know they were chanting for Rune. But that’s an excuse to also boo. Listen, I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years. So trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s OK. I focus on the respectful people, that have respect, that paid [for] a ticket to watch tonight and love tennis. And appreciate the players and the effort that the players put in here. I’ve played in much more hostile environments. Trust me, you guys can’t touch me.”
This sure seems like an overreaction from Djokovic. Especially since he was the one who ended up winning the match. But regardless, something clearly struck a nerve, whether he was really justified to be upset or not.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.