Novak Djokovic vented his spleen at a noisy contingent of British supporters who interrupted his on-court interview following a straight-sets Davis Cup victory over Cameron Norrie in Malaga.
As the José María Martín Carpena Arena reverberated to the sound of drumming and chants from the Stirling Uni Barmy Army, a diehard group of British Davis Cup followers, Djokovic urged the fans to “shut up” and “show some respect”. The incident brought a largely uneventful tie to an unexpectedly controversial conclusion as Serbia made comfortable progress to the semi-finals.
“We’re going to have a good sleep tonight,” Djokovic following his 6-4, 6-4 victory. “Keep going, keep going. Learn how to respect players. No, you shut up. No, you be quiet.”
It was the second time in six months that a meeting between Djokovic and Norrie has ended on a sour note, although this time at least the hostility was not between the players. When they met in Rome this summer, the 28-year-old Briton drew Djokovic’s displeasure by striking him with a close-range overhead. Here, the Serbian world No 1 simply picked up from where he left off at the recent ATP Finals in Turin, where the derision of the Italian crowd seemed to spur him on.
Such confrontations seem to be par for the course for Djokovic these days, and there will doubtless be more to come when Serbia take on Jannik Sinner’s Italy on Saturday. No doubt the 24-time grand slam champion will be ready. Against Norrie, he spent the first set quietly simmering in the face of what he felt was persistent barracking; when he won it, he cupped a hand to his ear and blew a sarcastic kiss in the direction of one of his tormentors.
“Disrespect, but again, that’s something I kind of have to be prepared for,” said the 36-year-old. “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 show that you don’t allow this kind of behaviour.
“They can do whatever they want, but I’m going to respond to that. That’s what happened. And in the end, I was trying to talk and they were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don’t talk. They were trying to annoy me the entire match.”
Leon Smith, the British team captain, acknowledged that some spectators may have crossed a line, but argued that passionate crowds are part of the competition’s appeal.
“The best [ties] are the noisy ones,” said Smith. “When it’s flat and dead and no one’s clapping, no music, it’s pretty boring. That’s one of the things that’s good about Davis Cup and the team competition, that actually you’re kind of meant to make noise.
“There is always a bit that goes over, comments; I could hear a couple. I don’t think it’s that bad. I would hate to see it quietening down, because there’s enough quiet tennis as it is. If anything, that atmosphere is good for us.”
Norrie competed with typical doggedness, and was never more impressive than when he fended off five break points to avoid going a double break down in the second set. Yet the world No 18 has been struggling for form of late, losing five of his past six matches, and he was overmatched from the outset. Djokovic, intent on rounding off a season that has brought three more grand slam titles with a second Davis Cup triumph for his country, broke early in each set and remained in control throughout.
Jack Draper was earlier defeated 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6) by Miomir Kecmanovic, scotching British hopes of forcing a decisive doubles rubber. Such a scenario would have swung the odds firmly in favour of Smith’s side, given that Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski both rank among the world’s top 10 doubles players. But an otherwise valiant performance from Draper was undermined by an inability to maintain his level in the decisive tiebreaks, most glaringly when he was derailed by a pair of untimely double faults in the first shootout.
Unless granted a wildcard, British hopes of making next year’s finals will rest on successfully negotiating a qualifier five days after the end of the Australian Open, before navigating the group stage. For Serbia and Djokovic, meanwhile, Italy – and Sinner – await.