Novak Djokovic on 'disrespect' he faced from noisy Great Britain fans at Davis Cup: "Something I kind of have to be prepared for"
Novak Djokovic wasn't put in a spot of bother by Cameron Norrie over the course of a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Brit. However, some rowdy fans tested the Serb's patience yet again with their antics.
Djokovic isn't afraid to give back in kind when faced with any kind of disrespect. He gave an account of what transpired between him and the fans when he was asked about it in his post-match conference.
The World No. 1 was subjected to their taunts throughout the match. While he conceded that fans do tend to go overboard at the Davis Cup, it's also natural for him to react. He's not the one to excuse such behavior.
"Well, the entire match pretty much. Disrespect, but again, that's something [I] kind of have to be prepared for. You know, in the Davis Cup, it's normal that sometimes fans step over the line, but, you know, in the heat of the moment, you react too, and you, in a way, how can I say, show that you don't allow this kind of behavior", Djokovic said after the match.
The fans didn't even let him finish his on-court interview in peace as they interrupted him by playing drums. This resulted in another back-and-forth between the two parties.
"They can do whatever they want, but I'm going to respond to that. That's what happened. And in the end, for whoever was there, you saw, I was trying to talk and they were purposely starting to play the drums so that I don't talk and they were trying to annoy me the entire match. So, yeah, we had a little bit of a chat in the end," added the Serb.
Prior to Djokovic's win over Norrie, Miomir Kecmanovic edged past Jack Draper courtesy of a 7-6(2), 7-6(6) victory. Thus, there was no need to contest the doubles tie and Serbia advanced to the last four for the fourth time.
Novak Djokovic led Serbia to face Italy in the semifinals of the Davis Cup Finals
Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner will face off for the third time in less than 10 days as the two will duke it out in the semifinals of the Davis Cup Finals. The latter defeated the former in the group stage of last week's ATP Finals to notch up his very first win over the Serb.
Djokovic returned the favor by besting Sinner in the final to win his seventh title at the ATP Finals. The two are also likely to play the doubles rubber. The 36-year-old was nominated to play doubles against the Brits too. But he didn't have to do so in the end as Serbia won both of its singles matches.
Sinner was instrumental in Italy's triumph against the Netherlands. Matteo Arnaldi's loss put the Italians on the back foot, but the World No. 4 got them back on track with a 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Tallon Griekspoor.
Sinner then teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego to defeat Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 6-4 and seal the tie in Italy's favor. They'll be heavily dependent on the 22-year-old to anchor them past Serbia as well.