“Crowds always try and poke the bear,” Nick Kyrgios defends Novak Djokovic as fellow BBC commentator was adamant that the crowd was not booing him

Djokovic defeated Holger Rune to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

“Crowds always try and poke the bear,” Nick Kyrgios defends Novak Djokovic as fellow BBC commentator was adamant that the crowd was not booing him

Nick Kyrgios(L), Novak Djokovic(R) (Via Imago)

Novak Djokovic has defended Novak Djokovic after his war of words with fans at the Wimbledon Championships. The Serbian made news after claiming the Center Court crowd was disrespectful toward him during his match against Holger Rune.

Djokovic did not like the fans booing him when he was facing Rune and gave it back to the fans a few times. He expressed his frustration in his press conference later and also took to social media to take a dig at them.

YouTube video

BBC presenter Clare Balding was adamant that the crowd did not boo Djokovic and was instead saying “Sui”, a form of celebration made famous by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Kyrgios came to Djokovic’s defense and stated that the crowd has the habit of poking the Serbian, but it only brings the best out of him. 

FS Video
I think crowds all around the world need to understand that Novak doesn't need more of a motive to play better. He is driven. He is one of the best players in the world and I’ve seen it time and time again the crowd try and poke the bear and that's something we want to do against Novak.  
Nick Kyrgios said via BBC.

Nick Kyrgios has enjoyed the drama surrounding Djokovic. He even made a social media post acknowledging this after the Serbian’s on-court interview. 

Novak Djokovic shutting down the crowd delights Nick Kyrgios, who expresses it online

The recent Novak Djokovic-crowd incident took the tennis world by them. While many people found it unnecessary and misinterpreted by the Serbian, Nick Kyrgios enjoyed every bit of it.

Novak Djokovic gesturing towards the spectators who are booing him in his men's singles match against Holger Rune
Novak Djokovic (Via Imago)

He defended Djokovic and cheekily said that the whole issue might be due to his influence on the Serbian. 

Maybe. I love it.
Nick Kyrgios commented on X 

Despite all the drama and distraction, Djokovic won the match in straight sets and reached the quarterfinals, where he will take on Alex de Minaur. The two will lock horns for the third time this year, with both players having one once.

However, De Minaur could face some trouble facing the former World No. 1 as he had an injury scare towards the end of his previous round match against Arthur Fils, with the diagnosis yet to be disclosed.

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