Former world’s number-one Novak Djokovic is unhappy despite another win at Wimbledon! During his recent match against Rune, he suffered the public’s wrath and replied back to them in the same tone. As Djokovic’s behavior reminded people of Nick Kyrgios‘ on-court personality, the Australian accepted it. Following Kyrgios’ support, the question arises: is he cheering for the Serb in this Wimbledon?

Kyrgios tweeted on his official X platform that he loved that people mentioned Djokovic’s recent attitude at Center Court as his influence. The former world’s number one had a match against Holger Rune at Wimbledon’s Round of 16 yesterday. Rune supporters tried to diminish the Serb’s motivation during that match by booing him. Post-victory, Djokovic took a dig at them and said, “To all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it, And to all the fans who have chosen to disrespect me, have a gooood night.” Now Djokovic’s post-victory statement clearly referred to the “Rune” chants showing how he wouldn’t accept such disrespect. Hearing the Serb’s speech, people were quick enough to associate him with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, known to speak his mind on the court. Supporting Djokovic’s attitude, Kyrgios tweeted, “Maybe I love it.”

Mentioning how he has been on tour for 20 years, Djokovic said, “I know there 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”. Djokovic’s attitude reminded people of Nick Kyrgios’ moment at the Australian Open 2022. During his opening round against Paul Jubb, he got so angry at some of the fans that he urged the umpire to ask them to leave the stadium. “[You] should remove them from the crowd. So spectators who disrespect an athlete is acceptable, but you don’t accept a hat with two logos. But pure disrespect [towards] athletes is fine. Where is the line? If that’s acceptable, then racism is acceptable… where does it stop? Where is the line, you know what I mean?”- said Kyrgios.

In fact, this was not Kyrgios’ first time ranting against the attendees of his match. During his Wimbledon 2022 finals against Djokovic, he complained to the umpire openly about a fan who dismantled his game by talking every time he served. “She’s talking to me while I’m serving in the Wimbledon final, There’s no bigger occasion. You didn’t believe me and then she did it again. It nearly cost me the game”- said the Australian tennis star.

Nick Kyrgios protested against the public’s racial hurdles against him. Accepting how his “behavior isn’t the best all the time”, Kyrgios mentioned how such acts often distract players and when the player responds, they get penalized. The Serb’s statement also expressed disappointment about the crowd’s hostile behavior. Known to be usually quiet and concentrated on his game, Djokovic couldn’t resist but protest taking a stand for all the tennis players.

Before Wimbledon, Djokovic faced a similar crisis at the French Open 2024. While he tried to complain, he received flak from people, but the Serb managed carefully to keep his pace clear.

Novak Djokovic said at times that fans are “not easy”

During the Serb’s French Open second-round match against Spanish Roberto Carballes Baena, one fan from the crowd started shouting at Djokovic while he was chasing a drop shot with a 5-4 lead in the first set. Angry at the behavior, Djokovic complained to the umpire but got booed instead. He managed to win the match, but the incident left him disappointed.

“He shouted actually a few words during the rally. He was there in the first row, and he started from the beginning of the match. He went on several times, which was fine, supporting my opponent, but I thought that this was a bit of a hindrance as he was so close and then, as I was about to hit the ball, he was shouting”- he said.

Nevertheless, Novak Djokovic’s anger at Wimbledon’s Center Court was a frustrating outburst of disappointment. After entertaining fans for over a decade with great performance, he didn’t expect such disappointment. On the other hand, Kyrgios’ affirmation showed that he supports Djokovic’s method of letting fans know how sad a player feels when he receives such behaviors during the match.