Novak Djokovic shutting down booers in the crowd after his fourth-round match against Holger Rune delighted Nick Kyrgios. A fan even suggested that it was the Aussie’s influence on the Serb that sparked his reaction. Kyrgios responded to the fan with a ‘maybe,’ saying he loved how Djokovic handled the hate.
The former World No. 1 faced a real hurdle in the fourth round against 15th seed Holger Rune but decimated the Dane 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach yet another quarterfinals at SW19.
During his on-court interview, Djokovic, who was booed incessantly throughout the match, shut down the hecklers and sarcastically asked them to have a good night.
“And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a good [drawn out] night. Gooood night, gooood night, very good night. Yeah.”
When asked if maybe they had just wanted to cheer for Rune, the Serb responded that it was disrespectful and that he didn’t accept it. He thanked the “respectful” fans and told the others that they couldn’t “touch” him.
“They were, they were, they were, I don’t accept it. No, no, no, 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, I know how it works. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s okay. I focus on the respectful people, they have respect, they pay the ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis, and love tennis and appreciate the players 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.”
Nick Kyrgios was delighted with the Serb’s response and took to X to share his amusement at Djokovic’s triumphant sarcasm:
“Have a gooooooooood night hahahahahahahaa.”
A fan even suggested while replying to a video of Djokovic’s post-match address posted by @JamesMelville on X that the Serb was influenced by Kyrgios, to which the Aussie responded,
“Maybe 🫣👀 I love it.”
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios met for a light practice session at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios had a light practice session during the 2024 Wimbledon Championships that attracted quite an audience. The two also did trick shots and shared giggles during the lighthearted session.
The Aussie, who is currently recovering from his wrist and knee injuries, shared some highlights from their session on Instagram
“Maybe there will be one last ride… Thank you my friend,” Kyrgios captioned his post.
Kyrgios also shared on his Instagram Stories that it was his first real test post-surgery against the Serb. The 24-time Major winner told the Aussie that he couldn’t even tell that he’d had surgery.
“Nearly 10 months since my brutal wrist surgery… First real test today and it almost brought me to tears the fact that I’ve been able to get back to this level – There were periods that maybe it wasn’t meant to be – Novak told me today that he couldn’t tell that I’d had the surgery… My team and I had to reflect on all the moments when s**t got hard… We keep going,” Kyrgios wrote.
While Nick Kyrgios is recovering from his injuries and aims to return by the end of the year, Novak Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
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