Novak Djokovic tells British fans to ‘shut up’ and ‘learn to respect players’
MARTIN CARPENA ARENA — Novak Djokovic was left furious when a group of Great Britain fans tried to drown out his post-match interview after securing another Davis Cup victory for Serbia.
Djokovic had thrashed British No 1 Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 to give Serbia an insurmountable 2-0 lead in their quarter-final clash and was preparing to address the crowd, which included an official allocation of 2,500 British fans decked out in red, white and blue.
The world No 1 had already held his hand to his ear and blown a sarcastic kiss to a group of British supporters during the match and when afterwards a group of drummers in the same area took up their instruments during his interview, he started gesticulating and arguing with them.
“We’re going to have a good sleep tonight, keep going, keep going,” Djokovic said.
“Learn how to respect players…[ ]…No, you shut up. No, you be quiet.”
When asked afterwards if it was noise specifically at the end or during the match that frustrated him, Djokovic replied: “Well, the entire match pretty much. Disrespect, but again, that’s something I’m kind of have to be prepared for.
“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, in a way, 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, for whoever was there, you saw, I was trying to talk and they were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don’t talk and they were trying to annoy me the entire match.
“So, yeah, we had a little bit of a chat in the end.”
Captain Leon Smith, who was sitting directly between Djokovic and the British fans involved, said there was “no animosity” between the two teams but admitted that the 24-time grand slam seemed distinctly “pissed” at some of the noise coming from the crowd.
“I can only go on the ties we have had for as long as I have been involved. The best ones are the noisy ones. When it’s flat and dead and no one’s clapping, no music, it’s pretty boring,” Smith said.
“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.
“And there is always, whether there is 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.”
He later added: “I think he was just a bit pissed about a bit of the noise coming from behind. I don’t think it was that bad.”
