Novak Djokovic sends fiery message to Wimbledon crowd after ‘boos’ during Holger Rune clash – ‘You can’t touch me’

The Serb overcame the encounter to reach the quarter-finals for the 15th time in his career, beating his Danish opponent in three sets without being broken.

But after the match, Djokovic was in a combative mood and had a strong message for some fans on Centre Court who he said were jeering at him during the two-hour clash.

“To all the fans who have respect and stayed here tonight, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” he said.

Djokovic then added: “And to all those who chose to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Very good evening.”

Many fans and pundits believed the crowd was cheering for Rune by elongating the ‘u’ in the Dane’s name, but Djokovic was not convinced and thought they were using it as an excuse to boo him.

“They disrespected me, I don’t accept it,” he said, shaking his head at interviewer Rishi Persad. “I know they were cheering for Rune but it’s an excuse to boo them too.

“Listen, I’ve been on the circuit for over 20 years, believe me, I know the tricks, I know how it works.

“It’s good, it’s good, it’s OK. I focus on people who are respectful, who have respect, who pay the ticket to come and watch the evening and who love tennis and appreciate the effort that the players put in here.

“I played in a much more hostile environment, you can’t touch me.”

Later in his post-match press conference, Djokovic reflected on the incident: “It’s completely understandable that they have the freedom to choose who they support in the match.

“But if someone crosses the line, I react. That’s basically what happened.”

The world number two overcame stomach problems and an injured right knee after surgery to reach the quarter-finals but said he was “feeling good on court” and was taking things “day by day”.

Djokovic is chasing an eighth SW19 title, equalling Wimbledon legend Roger Federer’s record.

In his post-match press conference, Rune revealed that the crowd was chanting his name and not booing Djokovic.

The 21-year-old also said it was not the first time this had happened when he faced the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

“It all started at the US Open, the first time we played each other, when I was 18 or something,” Rune said. “They were yelling my name, Rune. It was kind of like a ‘boo.’”

“We played against each other many times, but mostly in Italy and France, where they don’t pronounce my name the same way. Now we’re in England. Yeah, I mean, if you don’t know what was going on, it probably sounded like ‘boo’. But we all know what happened, it was my name.

“He’s obviously played so many games since the last time he played me. If he didn’t remember it, it probably would have sounded different to him.

“I don’t think it played a major part in the game. He was just better than me today. Whether the crowd was one colour or another, I think both players were very supported, to be honest.”

“They supported him on his good points. They supported me. There were some great scenes on Centre Court.”