Novak Djokovic has said Wimbledon fans “chose to disrespect” him by booing during his match against Holger Rune.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion beat Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in Monday night’s last match on Centre Court.
Spectators cheered on his 21-year-old Danish opponent with shouts of “Ruuuuune”, but the 37-year-old thought they were saying “booooo”.
“To all those people that have chose to disrespect a player, in this case me, have a gooooood night,” Djokovic said in a courtside interview.
“I don’t accept it. I know 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 and how it works.
“It’s fine. I’ll focus on the respectful people that pay the ticket to come and watch the night, and love tennis and appreciate the effort that the players put in here.
“I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
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‘If somebody steps over the line, I react’
Asked in his post-match news conference whether tournament officials should take action against crowd members who step over the line with their behaviour, Djokovic said: “I don’t know what Wimbledon can really do about it.
“In those particular moments when it happens, the crowd paid their tickets. They have the right to be there and cheer the way they want to cheer. That’s absolutely something they choose how they behave or how they choose to support the player is really up to them.
“You could argue maybe a chair umpire or whoever can step in in certain moments and calm them down, but there’s not much you can do. You’re not going to take out the whole section of the crowd or stadium because they’re misbehaving or showing disrespect.”
He added: “All the true tennis fans that respect players, of course, you’re going to support one player or the other. It’s obviously solely up to them. It’s fully understandable that they have the freedom to choose who they back in the match.
“But if somebody steps over the line, I react. That’s basically what it was. After the match I said what I said.”