Who are you with? The passionate crowd of the All-England Club, or the legendary tennis player Novak Djokovic? This is the burning question reverberating through the tennis community. Emotions and boos are integral parts of any tennis match, adding to the drama and excitement. But on Monday, things took an ugly turn, and the fallout has been polarizing. However, the divide in opinion is stark. And former tennis player Sam Querrey is one of those people who seem to side with Djokovic over his jibe at the audience. 

Djokovic engaged in an ugly exchange with the crowd after his fourth-round match against Holger Rune on Centre Court. After Djokovic defeated Rune, he was upset with some perceived boos from those in attendance on Centre Court. To protest against the same, he grabbed the microphone and hit back at the crowd by telling them to “have a goooooooood night,” in a similar booing gesture. Interestingly, it appeared to be a mistake on Nole’s part who perceived cheer for Rune as boos at him. This incident has brought enough flak to the Serb, but Querrey appears to be on the other side.

Speaking on the July 11 episode of Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Querrey joined his co-host Rennae Stubbs to deliberate on a wide range of topics including Djokovic’s banter with the crowd. Siding with Nole over the incident, the 36-year-old said, “I loved it. I loved him addressing the crowd. I know like, you know, people say that ‘Ruuuneee’ and then I’m sure there’s I’m sure there is a small group of people that might be booing Novak too because I know it gets under his skin.” Incidents of booing against Djokovic took place on Wednesday as well during Lorenzo Musetti’s on-court interview. 

As soon as Djokovic’s name was taken as Musetti’s semifinal opponent, the crowd seemed to turn boisterous as there were noticeable boos from the audience. Interestingly, Nole was nowhere on the court during the second incident. Querrey, meanwhile, appreciated the gesture of Djokovic further. “But I love the authenticity of the of the reply on center court. You don’t get that from tennis players or any athlete too often.” Indeed! Not many players seem to engage in a tussle with the crowd. But interestingly, it was just a month ago when Iga Swiatek also engaged in a similar tussle with the crowd.

During the French Open, she had requested the audience to make less noise between the points. This had drawn her enough flak with more such incidents occurring during her matches. As for the Serb, Querrey believes that he is enjoying such exchanges. “I think he doesn’t care if the people aren’t cheering for him. I think I think everyone still respects him that he’s, he’s so great and such an amazing champion, but I loved it. It was fun to watch.” However, it’s not just the crowd that is rolling its eyes against the Serb.

When Djokovic’s wife rolled her eyes against the Serbian star’s statement

Djokovic and his team witnessed an unexpected break on Wednesday after Alex De Minaur decided to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury. This gave a break to Nole to spend his time in humorous exchanges with his wife Jelena. Speaking to the Tennis Channel, Djokovic opened up about his responsibilities towards his children.

“Out of the two parents, I’m the one who is responsible for their activities, sports, healthy lifestyle.” As soon as the 24-time Grand Slam champion made these remarks, his wife was spotted rolling her eyes. This was even pointed out by Djokovic himself. “Exactly – she’s rolling her eyes right now as I’m speaking! I keep reminding them of how important it is to be active and do sport, whether it’s tennis, whatever it is.”

As for the ongoing Wimbledon, it will be fascinating to see if the Serbian star can continue his winning trajectory and move closer to winning his eighth title at the All-England Club.