'I know all the tricks': Novak Djokovic lashes out at Wimbledon crowd

With the most Grand Slam wins in history and the record for longest time spent at number 1 in the ATP rankings, Novak Djokovic is a figure worthy of immense respect.... though sometimes the Serb's actions are less than respectable.

Nole's latest blunder happened at Wimbledon, where he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, after comfortably beating Holger Rune 6-3/6-4/6-2.

The problem is that during the match, the public has sided with the Dane, cheering him on by shouting his name, 'Rune', but lengthening the 'u' to make it louder.

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It is common for the fans to take the side of the player who is losing, in some cases, helping to prolong the match. Obviously, they prefer a 5-set match to a shorter one, as we saw here.

In the middle of the match, the Serbian covered his ears when hearing the crowd chants, but that was not the end of it for Djokovic, who voiced his frustrations at the end of the match.

“Well, to all the fans that had respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a gooooood night. Gooood night, gooood night. Very good night,” Djokovic said in a courtside interview following the match, as reported by The Washington Post.

Djokovic was clearly rattled and continued to discuss it in the press room. “I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo. Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. Trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works, it is fine. It is fine, it’s OK.”

“Look, I don't know what Wimbledon can really do about it. I mean, in those particular moments when it happens, the crowd paid their tickets,” he concluded, according to the Post.

For his part, Holger Rune wanted to explain that this type of animation began three years ago, the first time he faced Novak Djokovic at the US Open.

“It all started in the US Open the first time we played each other when I was 18 or something. They were shouting my name, Rune. It sounded a little bit like 'boo',” he explained, according to Express.

“We played each other many more times, but more in like Italy and France, where they don't pronounce my name the same way. Now we're in England. Yeah, I mean, if you don't know what was happening, probably it sounded like 'boo'. But if we all know what happened, it was my name,” he said.

It seems a little strange that after all his years of experience, something like this would rattle a legend like Novak. But he may have soured his relations with the Wimbledon fans for the remainder of the tournament. Perhaps he will be hearing genuine 'boos' in his next rout?

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