Novak Djokovic’s relationship with the tennis crowd adds another chapter.

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic isn’t new to playing against a hostile crowd in tennis tournaments around the world. In the fourth-round clash against Holger Rune at Wimbledon 2024, another chapter was written in this unique book.

During the match, the Center Court crowd had many Danish supporters cheering for Rune. However, according to Djokovic, those fans started booing him, which he found ‘disrespectful.’ Consequently, the Serbian turned on them and improved his game, while Rune and those disrespectful fans watched helplessly.

I simply felt the need to say what I feel, and I think the majority of people just felt it and saw it, especially those who were on the court. Initially, their shouting was directed at him (Rune); that is, his name was pronounced that way, and that's okay.

Novak Djokovic said, as reported by SportKlub

Djokovic was asked about the incident in his post-match interview and the post-match press conference. He explained his stance and urged the crowd to respect the players for their efforts.

I mean, I tolerated it for sometime in that context, knowing they were supporting him. However, it turned into provocation, a display of disrespect, into unsporting behavior, cheering from that part of the audience. After every point I lost, they did it, so I consider it wrong, and I said what I said, and I stand by it.

Novak Djokovic added

However, many people on social media believe that the former World No.1 had lost the plot. Some fans stated that the fans were only supporting Rune and Djokovic misinterpreted it. Regardless of which side of the coin the fans look at, they know that the Serbian plays at his maximum potential when the crowd is against him.

The history of Novak Djokovic against the crowd

The bad taste in the crowd for Novak Djokovic has been there as early as 2008. In the US Open that year, former World No.1 Andy Roddick once mocked his fitness by giving a list of 16 injuries. After the Serbian beat him at Flushing Meadows, he mocked Roddick for his comments, which resulted in huge jeering from the American crowd.
Novak Djokovic (via Imago)
Although that episode was over, his start of dominance and standing toe to toe with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer was when the hate for him reached another level. In Federer’s ‘Last Twelve Days’ documentary, the Swiss Maestro said that the Belgrade native was more of a ‘party crasher’ for the Federer and Nadal fans as the tennis circuit was divided between those two titans.

Hence, when Djokovic came into the spotlight, tennis fans couldn’t stand him and didn’t want to see the Serbian break the dominance those two had. There have been many examples in which Djokovic has played matches against those two tennis legends, and the crowd has gone against him.

The biggest example was the Wimbledon 2019 final against Federer when the Serbian was down two championship points but came back to win 13-12 in the final set. Djokovic claimed that he had to do a lot of mental training to ensure that he didn’t get distracted by the crowd’s reactions.