Novak Djokovic produced his best display so far at this year’s Wimbledon to dispatch Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals before launching a tirade against ‘disrespectful’ fans on Monday.
The 37-year-old Serb won the opening 12 points of his Centre Court clash against the 15th seed and apart from a minor blip at the end of the second set was clinical throughout as he reached the last eight here for the 15th time in his career.
But the seven-time champion was riled by some of the crowd who greeted Rune’s occasional moments of brilliance with chants of “Ruuune!” and did not hold back in his on-court interview.
“Well to all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart I appreciate it,” Djokovic said.
“And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a goooooood night!”
When the on-court interviewer interjected and suggested the fans had merely been chanting the name of his young opponent, Djokovic begged to differ.
“I don’t accept that, no, no, no. I know there they were cheering for Rune but that’s an excuse to also boo. Listen, I’ve been on the Tour for more than 20 years.
“So trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It’s fine. It’s fine.
“I focus on respectful people that have respect that paid the ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort they’re putting in.
“I’ve played in much more hostile environments. Trust me, you guys, you guys can’t touch me.”
Djokovic, bidding to become the first player to win 25 grand slam titles, will contest his record-extending 60th grand slam quarter-final against Australia’s Alex De Minaur on Wednesday.