Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic blasts fans he felt booed him during victory over Holger Rune

A last-16 tie with Rune had been expected to be Djokovic’s biggest test since having surgery on a torn meniscus last month, but the 24-time grand slam winner eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

Rather than Rune being able to knock Djokovic off stride, it was fans inside Centre Court which frustrated the 37-year-old after he took exception to the surname of his opponent repeatedly being chanted.

During a heated on-court interview, Djokovic said: “Well, to all the fans that had respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it.

“And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a gooooood night. Gooood night, gooood night. Very good night.”

It was put to Djokovic that they were merely chanting Rune and not booing him, but the second seed countered back.

“They were (disrespecting), they were, they were. I don’t accept it,” Djokovic insisted.

“I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo.

“Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. Trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works, it is fine. It is fine, it’s OK.

“I focus on the respectful people, they have respect, that pay a ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis.

“Love tennis and appreciate the players, appreciate the efforts that the players put in here. I have played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”

Alex the great

Djokovic will next meet Alex De Minaur, who played down injury fears after he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time and is happy to be an honorary Briton for the rest of the tournament.

The ninth seed from Australia continued his fine run at the Championships with a 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-3 win over Arthur Fils on Court One, but looked to pull up during match point and barely celebrated the fine volley which closed out the tie.

De Minaur seemed to shake his head in the direction of his box, which contained long-term girlfriend and British number one Katie Boulter, but claimed it was only a scare after he jarred his hip.

It means De Minaur should be fine to play his last-eight clash on Wednesday and hopes to receive support from the crowd in SW19 after Emma Raducanu’s defeat on Sunday ended the home nation’s participation in the singles draw.

“Oh, 100 per cent. I’ll take all the support I can get. I can be the honorary Brit here at Wimbledon,” De Minaur said.

“I do feel very loved out there, I must say. I always love coming here to Wimbledon and playing here. I always feel like I play some of my best tennis.

“Over the years I feel like the support I’ve had has grown significantly. It’s a great feeling as a player to know you’ve got a lot of people in that stadium backing you in, having your back when essentially you’re so far away from home.

“Yeah, definitely over the years I’ve learnt a lot more about the British culture thanks to Katie.”

Lorenzo Musetti was the first male player to book his place in the quarter-finals after a four-set success over lucky-loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Magic Mpetshi

Mpetshi Perricard had been one of the stories of the Championships, but had little answer once Musetti zoned in as the 25th seed recorded a 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-2 triumph clinched by 1.06pm on Court Two.

It sent Musetti through to a maiden grand slam quarter-final and made it three Italians overall in the last eight at Wimbledon with Jannik Sinner and women’s seventh seed Jasmine Paolini progressing on Sunday.

Musetti, who will face American Taylor Fritz after he fought back from two sets down to dump out Alexander Zverev, said: “I have nothing to lose.

“I will go on court to play, to enjoy, and to try to enjoy my best, my first quarter-final.”