By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday July 8, 2024
Remember in 2021, when Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune played in the first round of the US Open and the Serbian legend was confused when the Arthur Ashe faithful cheered Rune’s name? Well, it did sound like a chorus of boos, and that was part of the charm…
“I didn’t know what they were chanting honestly. I thought they were booing,” Djokovic said at the time. “I don’t know, it was not ideal atmosphere for me to tell you that. But I’ve been in these particular atmospheres before, so I knew how to handle it.”
Nearly three years later, after their latest Grand Slam battle, on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Djokovic told the crowd what he really thinks of their Rune cheer: it’s a disguise!
The 24-time major champion took a few swipes at the crowd after his 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Rune and told them that they can’t touch him.
“To all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” he said. “And to all those people who have chosen to disrespect the players, in this case, me: Have a gooooooooood night. Goooooood night, goooooood night.”
Here, Djokovic was careful to make the word ‘good’ sound like his very own chorus of boooooooos.
He continued: “They were [disrespecting me]. They were. I don’t accept [that they were only cheering for Rune],” he said. “No, no, no. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo.”
Are these the paranoid delusions of a man who has been scarred by taking his share of unfair abuse from fans across the world, or is Djokovic correct in his assumptions?
Or, could it be that the 24-time Grand Slam champion just wants to create more motivation to prove the haters wrong? Djokovic does seem to thrive when the odds – and the fans – are against him, but in this case, he seems to be begging them to be against him.
Into a record 60th Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon, the seven-time Wimbledon champion will face Alex de Minaur for a spot in the semis. What seemed improbable on June 5th, when he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in Paris, is now looking more probable with each passing win.
Three more of them and Djokovic will win a 25th major title, and stand alone atop the all-time Grand Slam singles list.
That’s the real story here, not his post-match interview, but nevertheless, how can we not be…
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