“What has he done that’s been that bad?” John McEnroe defends Novak Djokovic over his angry rant at the Wimbledon crowd

Novak Djokovic's rant against Wimbledon crowd on Monday continues to make headlines.

“What has he done that’s been that bad?” John McEnroe defends Novak Djokovic over his angry rant at the Wimbledon crowd

John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic (Via Imago)

Tennis legend John McEnroe defends Novak Djokovic against his fellow commentator regarding his angry rant at Wimbledon fans. Over the past day, Djokovic’s words have gone viral, with many interviewers discussing it, but only a few defending the Serbian player.

For more context, Djokovic was up against Holger Rune in the fourth round of Wimbledon and felt that the crowd was extremely disrespectful towards him. There were many chants during the match, but Djokovic felt that the crowd had used Rune’s name as a mode of chant to “boo” him. Following the match, he addressed the crowd directly and called them out for being disrespectful. 

After this on-court interview, many felt that the Serbian misunderstood the fans and crossed a line by addressing the fans directly out of anger. On the other hand, there are a few who watched the game and felt that Djokovic was right with his take. 

The same clash of thoughts happened in an interview on BBC broadcast, where reporter Clare Balding was up against John McEnroe about Djokovic’s recent match. While Balding felt Djokovic was unnecessarily ranting, McEnroe, who had been on the other side of fans, understood and defended the World No.2 here. 

McEnroe defended Djokovic, suggesting that the fans might have been wrong for provoking him. He also questioned what Djokovic could have done to anger the fans.

Why? What has he done that has been that bad? Name something. What is it, that he wants it? That he competes as hard as anyone has ever competed on a tennis court? I just don't get why. Is it the look or where he is from? 
John McEnroe said via BBC


Novak Djokovic storms out of interview after spat with BBC reporter

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic grew increasingly frustrated with repeatedly answering the same question. Since his rant at the fans, every reporter has focused on it, and Djokovic finally snapped at one of them.

Novak Djokovic Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

In an interview with the BBC, Djokovic responded to a question about his recent incident, but the follow-up question visibly annoyed him. He asked the reporter if there were any other topics to discuss, and moments later, stormed out of the interview.

Do you have any other questions other than the crowd? Are you focussed on only that or any questions about the match or something like that or is it solely focussed on that?
Novak Djokovic said via BBC

Regardless of what had happened, Djokovic beat Holger in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinal of Wimbledon for the 15th time. He will now take on the very talented Alex de Minaur on Wednesday, who has also been in wonderful form. 

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