'I made 15-word comment to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon - he then exploded in anger'

Novak Djokovic's Wimbledon return this month marks the almost one-year anniversary of when he accused the SW19 crowd of booing him during his clash against Holger Rune. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who takes on Alexandre Muller in the first round on Tuesday, had beaten the Danish star in straight sets to progress to his 15th quarter-final at the All England Club.

It was in the match that Djokovic appeared confused at the chants from the crowd, who seemed to have elongated Rune's surname to cheer him on, but the Serb believed they were in fact booing him. After the clash, he participated in an on-court interview with the BBC's Rishi Persad and sensationally took aim at the Wimbledon crowd as he claimed portions of the supporters disrespected him.

A perplexed Persad attempted to cool down tensions by replying to Djokovic: "I am hoping they were just commenting on Rune, and they were not disrespecting you." However, it did little to quell the tennis legend's frustration as he remained steadfast in his belief that he was subjected to ill-mannered behaviour in an arena where he's been crowned champion seven times, with only Roger Federer winning more titles (8).

"They were," he responded to Persad shaking his head. "They were [disrespecting me]. I am not accepting it. No no no. I know they were cheering for Rune but that's an excuse to also boo. Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. I know all the tricks. I know how it works. It's fine, it's fine."

While Djokovic then opted to focus on the fans who were respectful, he made sure to let crowd-goers who he believed booed him know they couldn't affect him. "I focus on the respectful people that pay for the ticket, and love tennis and appreciate the players and the effort the players put in here.

"I played in much more hostile environments, trust me - you guys can't touch me. To all the fans that have had respect and stayed here tonight, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I appreciate it.'And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player - in this case me - have a goooooooood night."

Despite memorably walking off after that last remark, it wasn't the end of the controversy as later that day, Djokovic walked out of a BBC interview after just several minutes. The interviewer brought up his post-match comments hours prior and asked Djokovic whether he felt that he gets the respect he deserves.

To be the first to receive the latest Wimbledon news, join our WhatsApp community or Wimbledon newsletter

A noticeably agitated Djokovic answered: "Look, as I said in the post-match interview, I thanked all of the people" before the interviewer retorted by asking how the conduct of the crowd influences his game. The tennis legend hit back at his line of questioning: "Do you have any other questions other than the crowd? I mean, are you focussed only on that or do you have any questions about the match or something like that, or is it solely focussed on that?"

The reporter pointed out that it initially was Djokovic who brought up the topic of the crowd after his win over Rune as the Serb, who looked to be running out of patience, said: "Well, I mean, this is the third question already. I said what I had to say."

While the reporter moved on from the touchy subject by asking about his upcoming clash against Australian star Alex de Minaur, the checked-out Djokovic offered a brief reply before prematurely standing up and leaving as he said: "Yeah, I look forward to it. It's going to be a tough one. Thanks."