Novak Djokovic not bothered by Wimbledon crowd rooting against him

Novak Djokovic has shown that his ability to be one of the greatest tennis players cannot be affected by what people think of him when he insisted that he was not bothered by the Wimbledon crowd Wednesday.

Many of those who attended the game audibly rooted for Jordan Thompson to beat the seven-time champion. He saw off Thompson in three competitive sets, advancing to the third round with a 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-5 win over the Australian.

As much as the crowd was respectful of Djokovic’s performance while he was at the Centre Court, Thompson is the one who had the lion’s share of support at SW19 – with a number of his compatriots in the stands.

36-year old Djokovic told Serbian media that the crowd was doing him a favour. The more they rooted against me, the better off he was. With him, they wake up to something they might not want to see, which is a winner.

“As a player, you want to have the majority of the audience on your side. I don’t want to play in a belligerent atmosphere. However, that’s how it is in most matches in my career, that they cheer for the other. It was decided by fate, and that’s fine. Sometimes it’s harder for me to accept it, sometimes I don’t understand the audience and their behaviour, but they have the right. Someone [may] be a little more daring and allow themselves to do something more from the stands, but then they have to expect my reaction.” – he added.

The Serb also revealed that this is not something new to him as it has happened in the past, at major tournaments all over the world. He said it gives him fuel and additional motivation, it inspires him to play even better.

Djokovic’s next game will be against Stanislas Wawrinka, who won two of his three slam titles by beating Djokovic in the final. Djokovic, meanwhile, is bidding to add to his 23 major trophies, which is a men’s record. Already he has won the first two slams of the year, emerging victorious at the Australian Open for a record-extending 10th time, before winning his third French Open trophy.

“There’s zero opportunity to win Wimbledon for me, I think,” Wawrinka said after beating Tomas Etcheverry 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 6-2 on Thursday (6 July). “I’m happy to have won today again, I think it was a great match. I’m playing better each match, and I think it’s an honour to play Novak here.

“I was missing that on my career to play him in the grand slam in Wimbledon. It’s going to be a difficult challenge. Hopefully I can make a competitive match, but if you will look at recent results, I don’t really stand a chance.”

Main Image: Winston-Salem Journal

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