Novak Djokovic on Thursday said that he confronted British fans because of their “disrespect” after Serbia beat Great Britain in the Davis Cup last eight.
The world No. 1 guided Serbia to a 2-0 win by beating Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 in the second singles rubber, but then told a group of British fans to “learn how to behave” afterward.
Djokovic was enraged as some fans tried to drown out his victory speech with drums, which the superstar said he felt he had to respond to.
Photo: Reuters
“The entire match pretty much there was disrespect, but it’s something I have to be prepared for in the Davis Cup,” Djokovic told reporters. “It’s normal that fans step over the line and in the heat of the moment you react, too, and in a way show that you don’t allow this kind of behavior.
“They can do whatever they want, but I’m going to respond to that,” he said.
During the match, record 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic was annoyed by the same fans causing a disturbance and cupped his hand to his ear after winning a point in the second set.
However, his temper boiled over when they would not allow him to speak undisturbed after his convincing victory.
“I was trying to talk and they purposely started to play the drums, to not let me talk,” he said. “They were trying to annoy me the entire match, so we had a little bit of a chat in the end.”
Djokovic’s victory pits him on a collision course with Italy’s Jannik Sinner, whom he beat on Sunday in the ATP Finals to clinch his seventh title of the season.
Sinner beat Djokovic in the group stage of that competition and the pair are set to meet again when Italy face Serbia in the Davis Cup semi-finals today.
“Third time in a bit more than a week, it’s gonna be great for tennis fans and for both Italian sports tennis fans and Serbia, and here also in Malaga,” Djokovic said. “We’re kind of developing a nice rivalry lately.”
Djokovic said he watched some of Sinner’s singles and doubles victories for Italy in their 2-1 triumph over the Netherlands earlier on Thursday, and continues to be impressed by the world No. 4.
“He’s really confident and playing, as I said, some of the best tennis that we saw him play ever,” he said. “I’m not playing bad myself, so it’s going to be, I think, a great match.”
He never struggled against Norrie, the top-ranked British player, breaking serve once in each set at the Martin Carpena arena.
He did not face a break point in the entire match.
In the first singles match, Miomir Kecmanovic beat Jack Draper 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6).
Earlier, the Netherlands got the first point in their tie against Italy when Botic van de Zandschulp saved three match points in the final tiebreaker to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in a thrilling opening singles match that lasted nearly three hours.
Sinner beat Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 to make it 1-1. He and Sonego defeated Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive doubles.
“Obviously I was coming here with confidence, but the first day was not easy, and today I started so-so the first set, but still I tried to keep going,” Sinner said.
“I think we are doing all the right things. We are a big family, and today we showed it. Everyone is giving 100 percent. That’s the least thing players can do, especially when they play for the country,” he added.
Australia and Finland were to play in the other semi-final, with those matches to begin after press time last night.
Additional reporting by AP
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