Novak Djokovic has fired another dig at Wimbledon fans less than 24 hours after clashing with them on Centre Court. The Serb got visibly frustrated with the strawberry brigade on Monday night as they constantly chanted ‘Wuuuuu’ in support of his opponent Yibing Wu.
Djokovic was leading two sets to one in the fourth set when he found himself in trouble. The partisan crowd, who were keen to witness a dramatic five-setter, cheered on Chinese star Wu.
But when Djokovic held serve to lead 5-4, he bit back and pointed to his ear. And the lack of affection from the supporters was clearly still on his mind on Tuesday lunchtime.
He posted on X: “Full moon in the sky. Wolf energy on the court. Woooooooo to round.”
Djokovic closed out the 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win and then explained why he found it so difficult against the world No.99, who was competing at Wimbledon for the second time.
“Challenging in terms of the level of performance and the tennis of Wu Yibing,” Djokovic said.
“I never faced him before. I did my analysis. I looked at some of the matches he played prior to Wimbledon. I think he just won one match, lost very early also in challengers, other tournaments that he played as a lead-up.
“I mean, I started well, and I liked my chances to maybe win in straights. He just took the tennis to a different level that was really impressive. I mean, serving, returning like incredibly deep and strong and fast shots that he played from both ends of the court and from the baseline, backhand and forehand. At one point there was no weakness really.
“Of course, I dropped my level, but that’s also due to his consistency and just great, great attacking, aggressive tennis. I was really hanging on the ropes in the fourth.
“I mean, I probably should have lost that set to be honest with the opportunities he had. I guess I managed to find the right serve at the right time. I was lucky he missed the overhead in the fourth. The match was toe to toe honestly. One or two shots, one or two points decided the winner.
“I’m glad I managed to fight and stay focused till the end. It’s one of these matches that we have to dig deep.”