Why was Novak Djokovic booed by the Portuguese fans at the Estoril Open in 2007 for wearing a Football jersey?
Novak Djokovic was booed by the crowd at Estoril Open in the first round match for donning a club Football jersey.
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Novak Djokovic was booed by the crowd at Estoril Open in the first-round match in 2007 for donning a club Football jersey. Djokovic has always been known for his love for Football and his desire to be a footballer. He went to a club match between SL Benfica – Sporting CP 2 major Portuguese clubs. This was on a Sunday ahead of the Estoril Open in 2007. Afterward team Director of SL Benfica gifted Djokovic a personalized team jersey.
Following that in the first-round match of the Estoril Open, Novak Djokovic wore the Benfica jersey to the court, only to be caught by surprise. Evidently, he received loud Boos from the crowd as he walked on the court. Djokovic missed out on a very important nugget of information altogether. Estoril as a city was a fan of the “posh” club Sporting CP. On the contrary, Benfica FC was a popular Lisbon club. Nevertheless, Djokovic gave the jersey another swing at the end of the match. In the hope that the fans won’t boo him again, he wore it back on again. But to his amazement, they booed him yet again.
Djokovic went on to clinch the title by defeating Richard Gasquet 7-6. 0-6, 6-1. He threw his own shirt into the crowd to celebrate his victory. And for the trophy ceremony, he wore the jersey of the Serbian football team in response to the boos earlier in the week. Novak knew how to engage with his fans even back in his early days which was amazing.
Though Djokovic played at Estoril Open only one time, he made sure the fans remember him. Thereupon he has also been a diehard Benfica fan. In light of his love for the club, he was gifted a personalized jersey in 2011 when he was crowned the world no. 1.
Estoril Open 2023 is currently underway in Portugal. It is the first clay tournament of the year and is an ATP 250 event.
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Booing is not alien for Novak Djokovic
It certainly wasn’t the last time Djokovic got booed on the court at Estoril. He has received this negative reception on several occasions.
In 2022, Djokovic received an uproar of boos at the Wimbledon semi-final clash with Cameron Norrie. When Djokovic blew a kiss at the crowd after winning the match it didn’t go down very well with the Center court audience.
Djokovic was booed yet again in the first-round match against Yoshihito Nishioka at French Open 2022. This time for celebrating a challenging point in typical Novak style by pumping his fists. The crowd rained down boos at the current no. 1 player.
Most recently he heard a chorus of boos at a practice session with Daniil Medvedev at Australian Open 2023. The crowd was unpleasant toward him as he had several medical interventions. Andy Murray came out in support of Novak Djokovic. “I don’t like to see players booed, it’s not a nice feeling. Novak got a lot of support in Adelaide, I’m sure it will be the same in Melbourne,” Andy Murray said.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)