A new theory has emerged for Novak Djokovic’s angry reaction to the Wimbledon crowd, after the 24-time Grand Slam champion grabbed the on-court microphone only to wish them a “goooooood night”, jabbing back after he felt that he was booed throughout his fourth-round contest.
Djokovic appeared to misunderstand that those on Centre Court for his straight-sets victory over Holger Rune were instead cheering on his opponent, rather than jeering the 37-year-old.
When asked about the subject later in a BBC interview, he stormed out of the chat following repeated questions about the crowd, proving to be a prickly point of conversation and Beeb pundit John Lloyd felt that the issue stemmed from comparisons to Djokovic’s historical rivals.
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,” Lloyd said during the broadcaster’s SW19 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.
Federer returned to Centre Court this year and as an eight-time Wimbledon champion, the crowd showed their admiration for the beloved Swiss icon, who Djokovic has already admitted he wasn’t “the favourite type of guy” of.
“I know certainly Federer didn’t like the way I was behaving at the beginning,” Djokovic said after beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the Australian Open earlier this year. “I think it didn’t sit with him well. I don’t know about the others.
“I guess I wasn’t the favourite type of guy to some of the top guys because I was not afraid to say that I want to be the best player in the world. I was confident and I felt like I have the game to back it up.
And last year, Djokovic even admitted that he was not friends with Nadal, despite sharing the court on several blockbuster occasions – coming together at the Laver Cup for Federer’s farewell with Andy Murray.
“Nadal is a special player in my career,” Djokovic told French TV. “We are not friends, but we have a lot of respect for each other. I hope that after our careers we can have a drink on the beach and talk about life.”
Lloyd’s theory that the love that crowds, especially at Wimbledon, have for Federer and Nadal in comparison to Djokovic may well have frayed the Big Three’s relationships – and it remains to be seen whether or not the Serb will continue to vent about supporters on court.
