Why are the Wimbledon crowd ‘booing’ Novak Djokovic?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC is into yet another Wimbledon final – but has been faced with boos from the crowd at SW19.
The tennis legend booked his spot in a SIXTH successive final with a straight sets win over Lorenzo Mussetti.
After the match against Rune, Djokovic claimed the Wimbledon faithful booed him during his time on Centre Court and following the semi-final there were loud boos heard while he celebrated.
SunSport has all the details below…
Why is the Wimbledon crowd ‘booing’ Novak Djokovic?
During Djokovic‘s Wimbledon semi-final against Italian showman Mussetti, the Serb began to start playing a violin on his racket – a new celebration he has debuted this year.
The SW19 crowd booed the celebration, with Djokovic also hitting out at the crowd in an earlier match.
Previously, in his fourth round clash against Holger Rune, fans on Centre Court were repeatedly chanting “Ruuuuune”.
The Serbian didn’t take kindly to the shouts from the crowd, claiming in his on-court interview after the match that they had been booing him.
Djokovic said post-match: “To all the fans that have respect and stayed tonight, thank you from the bottom of my heart; I appreciate it.
“To all those people that have chosen to disrespect play and one player, in this case me, have a GOOOD-night. A GOOOD-night. A very goodnight.
“They were disrespecting me. I don’t accept it, no, no, no.
“I know they were cheering for Rune but that is also an excuse to boo.
“Listen, I have 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, it’s OK. I focus on the respectful people, those who have respect, who have the tickets to come to watch me tonight.
“Who love tennis, who appreciate the players and the effort put in.
“I’ve played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
Wimbledon 2024 prize money
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
- Winner: £2.7m
- Runner-up: £1.4m
- Semi-finalists: £715,000
- Quarter-finalists: £375,000
- Fourth round: £226,000
- Third round: £143,000
- Second round: £93,000
- First round: £60,000
- Overall total: £50m
BBC presenter Sara Thornton backed Djokovic’s post-match rant as she posted on social media: “As I sat on Centre Court I thought there were some absolute jerks in the crowd booing Novak Djokovic using the disguise of the name Rune… and sadly it became infectious.
“But as a tennis fan, I’d say that was far outweighed by those delighting in the skilful play on both sides.”
How to watch Wimbledon 2024
- Wimbledon will be broadcast live on BBC One and Two.
- You can live stream the huge event on the BBC iPlayer app/website.
- Alternatively, you can follow SunSport’s live blog to keep up to date with all the action.
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