Novak Djokovic feels that playing the villain against the Wimbledon crowd can work in his favour.
During his second-round victory against Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon, Djokovic stormed to a straight-sets win, despite some resilience from his Australian opponent. Throughout the match, the crowd showed signs of favouring Thompson, with huge cheers for the 29-year-old when he hit a winner or took a point from Djokovic.
However, Djokovic responded in the best possible way, by winning the match and progressing to round three, where the defending champion will face Stan Wawrinka. When asked in his post-match conference about the hostile crowd, seven-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic explained how he uses challenges from the spectators as additional motivation.
"In fact, they are doing me a favour. The more they cheer against me, the better for me. They wake something in me that they perhaps don’t want to see – a winner.”
Although, the 23-time Grand Slam winner shared how it's never his wish for the crowd to go against him, a difficult crowd is sometimes difficult to understand. The 36-year-old also believes some spectators become more confident and more vocal when watching from the stands.
"As a player, you want to have the majority of the crowd on your side. My wish is not to play in a hostile atmosphere. It turns out, though, that the crowd supports my opponent in most of the matches in my career. That’s my destiny and that’s all right – sometimes I find it harder to accept it, sometimes I don’t understand the crowd’s reactions, but it’s their right.”
"Sometimes, though, some people are more daring in what they’re saying from the stands – when it’s like that, they have to expect me to answer and react. It’s happened in the past, in the big tournaments around the world. It gives me extra fuel, inspires me to play even better.”
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