In every possible sense, Novak Djokovic was on familiar ground. Cruising past an opponent 16 years his junior. Advancing to the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Centre Court, scene of seven of his 24 grand slam titles, for a 15th time. And, as he has done so often before, taking on the crowd in the absence of any meaningful challenge on the court.
After easing past a below-par Holger Rune in straight sets, Djokovic used his on-court interview to vent his displeasure at fans whose expressions of support for the Danish 15th seed he mistakenly took for jeers. The 37-year-old misheard cries of “Ruuune” as boos.
Despite assurances to the contrary from the chair umpire, Nico Helwerth, and later an attempt to defuse the situation by his interviewer, the BBC’s Rishi Persad, Djokovic insisted Rune’s supporters had used the chants to conceal their derision.
“To all the fans that have respect and have stayed here tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” said Djokovic following his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win. “And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a goooooood night. Goooooood night. Goooooood night.”
Djokovic shot down Persad’s suggestion that the supposed offenders were voicing support for Rune, rather than expressing disrespect for the Serbian second seed.
“They were, they were, they were,” said Djokovic, shaking his head. “I don’t accept it. 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 OK. I focus on the respectful people that pay the ticket to come and watch tonight, and love tennis and appreciate the players, and the effort that the players put in. I played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
It was an unexpectedly spicy conclusion to a contest that was, in truth, something of a damp squib. Having previously beaten Djokovic on hard courts and clay, Rune will have drawn encouragement from the former champion’s struggles against Jacob Fearnley and Alexei Popyrin, both of whom pushed him to four sets. But Rune’s hopes of completing a surface trifecta effectively evaporated within seven minutes, the time it took for the Serb to pocket the first 12 points of the match and establish an unassailable first-set lead.
From there, the 21-year-old was always playing catch-up. Broken again in the seventh game of the second set, Rune fended off six set points at 5-3 to stay in contention, sealing the game with an ace. It was during that miniature tug-of-war that Djokovic began to take issue with the chants for his opponent. Having made his feelings known to Helwerth at the changeover, he was soon eyeballing his perceived tormentors as he saved a break point to serve out for a two-set lead.
From there, a couple of late slips posed the most meaningful threat to Djokovic’s progress, but the knee on which he had surgery barely a month ago survived the tests unscathed. He will now face Alex De Minaur, the Australian ninth seed, who defeated Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight for the first time.
“I think Holger didn’t really play at his expected level,” said Djokovic. “But I think I also made him uncomfortable on the court in terms of being very solid from the baseline and serving well in important moments. There were a couple of games – when I was serving for the second set, [and in] the third set [at] 3-2 up – where I saved some break points, where he had chances to shift the momentum to his side. But I think I played some good points.”