TENNIS superstar Novak Djokovic was not a very happy man tonight despite brushing aside Holger Rune to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
The 37-year-old Serbian defeated Rune in straight sets of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court before taking aim at the spectators he claimed disrespected him during the match.
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 brutally dealt with his younger opponent.
Rather than Rune being able to knock Djokovic off his stride, it was fans inside Centre Court who frustrated the most successful men’s player of all time 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.
In a men’s singles contest earlier today, American Taylor Fritz got the biggest Grand Slam win of his career by beating world No.4 Alexander Zverev from two sets down to reach the quarter-finals.
It took Fritz three hours and 30 minutes to see off Zverev in five sets of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3.
In women’s singles, former Juniors champion Jelena Ostapenko played another solid match to beat Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the third time, the first time since 2018 and her sixth career Grand Slam last eight.
Barbora Krejcikova also progressed to the last eight, beating Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-3 to reach the women’s singles quarter-finals in London for the first time.
It is her fifth career Grand Slam quarter-final and she has now reached singles quarter-finals in all four Majors — Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
There was another first timer in the men’s singles quarter-finals as world No.9 Alex De Minaur beat Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the stage at Wimbledon for the first time.
It is however Minaur’s third career Grand Slam quarter-final after the US Open in 2020 and Roland Garros this year.
Women’s 2019 and 2023 semi-finalist Elina Svitolina also advanced to the last eight, breezing past Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-1 to reach her 11th Grand Slam quarter-final, while 22-year-old Lorenzo Musetti beat Giovanni Meptshi Perricard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first career Grand Slam quarter-final.
