Novak Djokovic accused a vocal set of British fans of showing him “disrespect” throughout his match as he closed out Serbia’s 2-0 win over Great Britain by defeating Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4.
“The entire match, pretty much, [they showed] disrespect, but again, that’s something I kind of have to be prepared for,” he said. “In the Davis Cup, it’s normal that sometimes fans step over the line, but in the heat of the moment, you react too, and you, in a way, how can I say, show that you don’t allow this kind of behaviour.”
Djokovic’s irritation with a set of fans seated behind the Great Britain bench was evident during the first set and as he served out the set, he punctuated the service game by blowing a kiss to a particularly loud spectator.
After the match, as Djokovic addressed the crowd in the on-court interview, parts of the British fan groups began to drum loudly, drowning his voice out. The fans who travel with drums are part of the British tennis supporters groups that travel to Davis Cup ties. Djokovic reacted instantly: “We’re going to have a good sleep tonight, keep going, keep going,” he said, addressing the fans during the interview. “Learn how to respect players. No, you shut up! No, you be quiet!”
Afterwards, Djokovic said that while fans are allowed to do what they want, he will continue to react in any similar scenarios. “They can do whatever they want, but I’m going to respond to that,” he said. “That’s what happened. And in the end, for whoever was there, you saw, I was trying to talk and they were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don’t talk and they were trying to annoy me the entire match. So, yeah, we had a little bit of a chat in the end.”
Leon Smith, the British Davis Cup captain, noted that there had been no issues between the two teams: “I shook hands with [Viktor] Troicki, said well done, said well done to Novak. Look, he played a great match. No, there was zero animosity with us. In fact, I think all of us went around there, their entire coaching team, shook hands. We’ve got nothing but respect for that.”
Beyond the drama, Djokovic continues to break records whenever he steps on the court. The Serb is now unbeaten in 21 singles matches in Davis Cup, dating back to 2011. With the victory, his 44th Davis Cup win, Djokovic now owns Serbia’s record for most match wins at the Davis Cup, overtaking the former doubles No 1 Nenad Zimonjic.
