Novak Djokovic Booed by Centre Court Crowd After He Smashed Ball in Anger During Tense Moment

Novak Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the ninth consecutive time. The Serb, on Sunday (July 5), knocked out qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight of the tournament for the 17th time. The match, however, saw Djokovic lose his cool, and the crowd did not forgive him for that.

The Centre Court crowd booed the tennis great when he hit the fall in frustration during the third set. Frustrations got the better of Nole when the qualifier hit the ball toward his body, and as a response, he smashed a ball away, only to see the crowd boo him. Later during the on-court interview, the seven-time Wimbledon champion apologized for his conduct.

The outbursts. You know, the meltdowns. I had a few of those today as well. I apologize.

Novak Djokovic said

The win helped Nole improve his head-to-head record over the Russian ace to a perfect 4-0. Djokovic, who last won a title in the London Major back in 2022 by defeating Nick Kyrgios, lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals last year.

😳 Safiullin le tiró directo al cuerpo de Djokovic y a Nole no le gustó nada…pic.twitter.com/22ShdHwQW1

— Tiempo De Tenis (@Tiempodetenis1) July 5, 2026

Djokovic has now won most matches in the London Major (106), surpassing old foe Roger Federer‘s record (105). He last reached a final here in 2024, losing to Carlos Alcaraz, who spoiled his Calendar Grand Slam plan with a five-set win at the 2023 Wimbledon.

Greg Rusedski on why Novak Djokovic has an edge over Jannik Sinner

If Novak Djokovic reaches the semifinals, he could face defending champion Jannik Sinner. The World No.1 suffered a scare in the first round as he dropped two sets, but he was successful in ending the next two matches in his favor in straight sets.

If the former World No.1 meets the current World No.1, then it will be their second meeting this season. They faced each other in the semifinals of the Australian Open, where Djokovic knocked out Sinner and later lost the final to World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz.

After the Serb’s third-round win over Arthur Rinderknech, Greg Rusedski explained why he thinks Djokovic could have an edge over Sinner if they meet in the semifinals. He said on his Off Court with Greg podcast:

Novak was absolutely brilliant for two sets, and then all of a sudden, there was a little break. [Arthur] Rinderknech went off court, bounced back, but then Djokovic found a way to close it out in the fourth. For me, Djokovic is getting better and better with each round. He’s got Safiullin in the next round, a Russian qualifier. So Djokovic is on the path, really playing good tennis. I would be surprised if we don’t get a Sinner-Djokovic semifinal, and he’s going to get match win No 106.

Heat is considered the biggest rival of Sinner, as he has suffered cramps quite a few times, which has seen him either retire mid-match or lose his matches. He suffered a shock second-round exit at the French Open due to cramps.

Conditions are going to get hotter next week as well, which makes it a little bit more difficult on Sinner rather than Novak. You’d think it would be the opposite way around with a 39-year-old, but Novak I am always impressed with. And at the beginning of the year, this is the Slam, we talked about it. We talked about Djokovic winning this one.

Greg Rusedski added

Sinner has reached the fourth round. In last year’s Wimbledon final, he defeated Alcaraz in four sets, winning his career’s second grass-court title after the 2024 Halle Open. But this season, he chose not to play a warm-up tournament before the grass-court Major.

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