Booed Djokovic slams crowd
Novak Djokovic isn’t happy with the Wimbledon crowd after being jeered during his round of 32 win over British tennis No 1 Kyle Edmund.
‘‘There is a certain unwritten borderline where you feel that it’s a bit too much,’’ Djokovic said about being booed at times by the partisan crowd on Centre Court at the All England Club yesterday.
‘‘I didn’t deserve to be treated the way I was treated by certain individuals.’’
Neither the crowd nor a big mistake by the umpire could unglue Djokovic though as the three-time champion won 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 to reach the round of 16 for the 11th time in London.
Djokovic was robbed of a break at 3-3 (15-40) in the fourth set when the ball bounced twice before Edmund managed to return it over the net.
The Serb complained to the chair umpire but the call stood – even though TV replays also showed Edmund’s shot had actually landed wide.
Edmund ended up holding serve, but Djokovic broke at his next opportunity to make sure there will be no British players in the second week of the tournament.
‘‘I was 100 per cent convinced it [bounced] twice,’’ Djokovic said.
‘‘Anybody can make a mistake. That’s OK. But I don’t understand why he [the umpire] didn’t allow me to challenge the ball. I asked him . ... So, yes, it was quite a strange decision from [the] chair umpire, but it happens.’’
That wasn’t the only point of contention in the match. Djokovic got into a bit of a two-sided argument with the crowd after he was booed following a time violation in the third set. He responded by blowing kisses into the stands.
‘‘I thought the crowd’s reaction after that [time violation] was quite unnecessary. A couple [of] guys really, you know, pretending they were coughing and whistling while I was bouncing the ball more or less to the end of the match at that end where I received the time violation.
‘‘Those are the things obviously that people don’t get to see or hear on the TV. I just think it’s not necessary. That’s what I didn’t like . ... My interaction with the crowd, I thought had good things and not great things. I just reacted the way I thought was fair, the way they reacted to me.’’
Edmund, the last British player remaining in the tournament, said he didn’t notice anything disrespectful from the crowd, but acknowledged it was a Davis Cup-like atmosphere.
He also insisted he was unsure whether the ball actually bounced twice on the disputed call in the fourth set.
It was the third time Djokovic faced a British player at Wimbledon, losing to Andy Murray in the 2013 final and beating James Ward in 2016. But this was the first time he got a reaction like this from the crowd.
‘‘The crowd was very fair when I played against Andy. Obviously they support their
player,’’ he said. ‘‘But today there was just some people, especially behind that end where I got the time violation, they kept on going, they kept on going, provoking.’’
In other round of 32 matches in the men’s singles draw Japan’s Kei Nishikori eliminated Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 6-1 7-6 6-4 and superstar Rafael Nadal made light work of Alex de Minaur 6-1
6-2 6-4.
In the women’s draw, favoured Simona Halep was bundled out
6-3 4-6 5-7 to surprise Taiwan contender Hsieh Su-wei and Angelique Kerber made light work of Naomi Osaka, of Japan,
6-2 6-4.