By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, November 23, 2023
Novak Djokovic has a message for disrespectful Davis Cup noise-makers: Go celebrate silent night.
The world No. 1 dispatched Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 and muted vocal British fans clinching Serbia’s 2-0 triumph over Great Britain and return to the Davis Cup semifinals.
Traditionally, Davis Cup spikes fan passion like no other competition and while players accept vocal crowds are part of the Davis Cup environment, Djokovic said some British fans crossed the line to “disrespect” in today’s quarterfinal in Malaga, Spain.
Djokovic, who said said he felt some fans were using noise pollution to try to disrupt him, feuded with some fans, put his hand behind his ear at times as if exhorting the crowd to make more noise and ultimately invoked the last word scoring his 21st consecutive Davis Cup singles victory.
Afterward, Djokovic said if fans get unruly and loud with him, he will amp up the intensity and answer.
“[They were noisy] the entire match pretty much. Disrespect, but again, that’s something I’m kind of have to be prepared for,” Djokovic told the media in Malaga. “You know, in the Davis Cup, it’s normal that sometimes fans step over the line, but, you know, in the heat of the moment, you react too, and you, in a way, how can I say, show that you don’t allow this kind of behavior.
“They can do whatever they want, but I’m going to respond to that. That’s what happened. And in the end, for whoever was there, you saw, I was trying to talk and they were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don’t talk and they were trying to annoy me the entire match.
“So, yeah, we had a little bit of a chat in the end.”
It could get even louder in Saturday’s semifinals against Jannik Sinner and Team Italy.
World No. 4 Sinner and Djokovic will face off for the third time in 11 days.
Nine days ago in ATP Finals round-robin play, Sinner slammed down a smash punctuating a thrilling 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) Turin triumph over Djokovic snapping the Serbian superstar’s 19-match winning streak and scoring his second career victory over a world No. 1.
Prior to serving at 5-6 in the decider, Djokovic sat on his court-side seat waving his arms like a classic conductor orchestrating Italian fans as they cheered for Sinner.
Novak’s Symphony 🎶@DjokerNole #NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/KoiejjvOeJ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 14, 2023
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