Novak Djokovic walks out of BBC interview in spiky exchange after angry Wimbledon outburst
Novak Djokovic walked out of his BBC interview
BBC
Novak Djokovic walked out of a post-match interview with the BBC after facing repeated questions about his comments about the 'disrespectful' fans during his Wimbledon win over Holger Rune.
The Serbian made light work of getting past the 21-year-old, making it through to the quarter-finals in little over an hour.
But Djokovic cut an agitated figure throughout the match with chants of 'Rune!' seeming to get under his skin.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion then gave an astonishing on-court interview where he felt some fans were using the 'Rune' chant as a disguise to boo him.
Novak Djokovic walked out of his BBC interview
BBC
Rishi Pershad tried to suggest to Djokovic that it was only chants of 'Rune' and nothing more, but the 24-time Grand Slam champion rejected that notion.
“I don’t accept it. No. I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo," he said.
“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 OK.
"I focus on the respectful people, who have respect, that paid the ticket to come and watch tonight, and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort that the players put in here.
“I’ve played in a much more hostile environment, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
Djokovic faced more questions about his comments during his post-match press conference where he explained he felt the need to react to those who 'stepped over the line'.
But the 37-year-old seemingly had enough of answering questions about his Centre Court outburst by the time he spoke to Pershad again for the BBC.
After a third question in a row about his comments, Djokovic snapped and replied: "Do you have any questions other than the crowd?
Novak Djokovic gave an explosive on-court interview on Monday night
BBC
"I mean are you focused only on that or any questions about the match, or something like that?
"Or is it solely focused on that? This is the third question already, I said what I have to say, maybe we can speak about something else."
Pershad then attempts to change the subject to focus on his quarter-final against Alex de Minaur.
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Novak Djokovic didn't take kindly to the noise from the crowd
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Djokovic gave a snappy response before giving a nod and ending the interview abruptly before walking out despite Reshad trying to ask another question.
More to follow...