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Novak Djokovic has accused Wimbledon fans of “disrespect” after claiming he was booed during his win over Holger Rune on Monday.
The 37-year-old, a seven-time winner at Wimbledon, pursed his lips in the direction of the Centre Court fans after winning a tight second set vs 21-year-old Dane Rune, en route to a straight sets 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory to book his place in the quarter-finals.
A bizarre courtside interview followed:
“To all the fans that have respect and stayed here late tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart – I appreciate it,” Djokovic said.
“And to all the people that chose to disrespect a great player, in this case me, have a gooooood night.
“I don’t accept it. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo.
Djokovic pursed his lips towards the Wimbledon crowd after a crucial second-set win en route to beating Rune
“I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years, so trust me, I know all the tricks and how it works.
“It’s fine. I’ll focus on the respectful people that pay the ticket to come and watch tonight, that love tennis and appreciate the effort that the players put in here.
“I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
Kyrgios: Fans were not booing Djokovic | ‘He doesn’t need more motivation’
Nick Kyrgios told BBC Sport…
“It wasn’t [booing] but I think crowds all around the world need to understand that Novak doesn’t need more of a motive to play better.
“He’s driven, one of the best players in the world and I’ve seen it time and time again, the crowd try to poke the bear and that’s not what you want to do against Novak.
“He loves it. I try not to poke the bear when I play him…and I really struggle with that. Obviously it cost me my Wimbledon final.
“He doesn’t need more of a motive to go out there and prove to someone he is the greatest of all time.”
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