"Pure harassment"; "Man's having some serious issues" - Fans debate as Novak Djokovic abruptly walks out of interview amid Wimbledon crowd controversy

Novak Djokovic believed the crowd jeered him during his Wimbledon clash against Holger Rune on Monday, July 8. The Serb was asked about his interaction with the Wimbledon crowd during a subsequent BBC interview multiple times. He abruptly walked out of the interview and fans had mixed reactions toward it.

Djokovic got the better of Rune in the fourth round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. During his post-match on-court interview, the Serb took shots at the crowd who he believed used cheering for Rune as a ruse to boo him. The reporter on court tried to suggest otherwise but the Serb disagreed.

Later, during an interview with the BBC, Djokovic was asked three questions in a row about his interaction with the crowd. The World No. 2 was seemingly annoyed and asked if there were questions related to some other topic and as the reporter asked him about his upcoming quarterfinal against Alex de Minaur, Djokovic walked out of the interview.

Fans had mixed reactions toward the Serb's actions. Some fans slammed the BBC for asking repetitive questions.

"This is pure harassment from the BBC. Asking three inane questions back to back about the crowd when Novak had already clarified his views is just not fair!...," one fan wrote.

"Dry your eyes @BBCSport You went on and on about the crowd and not what interests the fans, Tennis. No sympathy here and good on him for giving you what you deserved," another fan wrote.

"Asking the same question three time and expecting other outcome is not that smart," a third fan wrote.

Some fans, however, were unhappy with Djokovic's conduct.

"The man is having some serious issues at the moment. He attacked the Danish fans for supporting Ruuunnneee. They weren’t booing him. He knows it and now he is losing his rag over being asked about it...," one fan wrote.

"Man I like Djokovic but this kind of a bad look, they were saying Rune in no disrespect to him but he’s turning this into a clown show," another fan wrote.

"Made a fool of yourself (in front of your children) on centre court and clearly was still rattled in the interview. Pathetic," wrote yet another.

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Novak Djokovic claimed Wimbledon fans disrespected him during fourth-round clash against Holger Rune

Novak Djokovic at The Championships - Wimbledon 2024.

Novak Djokovic claimed that the fans on Centre Court disrespected him during his fourth-round clash against Holger Rune. After the match, he fired shots at the crowd by saying:

"To all those people who have chosen to disrespect a player – in this case, me – have a goooood night."

The reporter on the court suggested that the crowd may have been cheering for Rune and it may have felt that they were booing him. However, the Serb disagreed and said,

“I don’t accept it. No. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo."

Further, he mentioned that he knows by experience what the crowd was doing. Djokovic will next take on Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinal at Wimbledon. The pair have faced each other thrice before, with the Serb leading their head-to-head 2-1.

Djokovic and De Minaur last faced off in the quarterfinal in Monte-Carlo where the Serb prevailed in straight sets. Their fourth clash is scheduled for Wednesday, July 10.