“It wasn’t a troll, I was blowing kisses to somebody that was cheering for me”- Novak Djokovic after his Wimbledon SF win against Cameron Norrie
Novak Djokovic was up against Cameron Norrie, and a boisterous home crowd, in his Wimbledon semifinal on Friday. While the Serb prevailed, triumphing 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a title clash with Nick Kyrgios, he did feel the pressure on him to get the win.
Djokovic got off to a slow start, which Norrie capitalized on. The Brit broke the former World No. 1 thrice to take the first set, much to the delight of a packed Centre Court.
After the win, the 35-year-old turned to the crowd, glared and blew a kiss at the fans behind him. Djokovic, however, tried to downplay the act in his post-match press conference,
“No no [it wasn’t a troll], I was blowing kisses to somebody that was cheering for me,” he said, though his body language said otherwise.
Send them kisses Nole 
💪 Send them kisses Nole 😘 😘 https://t.co/AXBPdnPr0u
Djokovic did admit later that the crowd backing home favorite Norrie made it difficult for him throughout the match.
“Look, it's never pleasant to have the whole stadium cheering for your opponent. Of course, it's something that I expected coming into the match. It was logical for that to happen because he's [the] hometown hero, they wanted him to win. I knew what kind of environment I'm going into,” Novak Djokovic said.
“But I felt like I was maintaining my focus pretty well considering. I sat down, wasn't playing well, feeling well, but somehow I managed to turn the match around. He was asking for the support of the crowd and he was getting it. It was not easy to close out the match for me, I felt a lot of pressure to serve it out,”he added.
“I don't know if I can call it a bromance yet” - Novak Djokovic on his relationship with Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios is one of the few players who haven’t lost to Djokovic yet. He has beaten the Serb in straight sets in both of their previous encounters, which came at the Mexican Open and the Indian Wells Open in 2017.
Their relationship over the years was anything but friendly. Kyrgios criticized Djokovic for hosting an ill-fated exhibition tournament during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led Djokovic to say he had “no respect” for Kyrgios off the court.
Things have, however, changed after Kyrgios supported Djokovic when he was deported from Australia earlier this year.
“I don't know if I can call it [our relationship] a bromance yet, but we definitely have a better relationship than what it was probably prior to January this year. When it was really tough for me in Australia, he was one of the very few players that came out publicly and supported me and stood by me. That's something I truly appreciate. So I respect him for that a lot,” Novak Djokovic said.
“Honestly, as a tennis fan, I'm glad that he's in the finals because he's got so much talent. For the quality player that he is, this is where he needs to be, and he deserves to be,” he added.
A Kyrgios 🤝 Djokovic bromance!
"We actually DM each other on Instagram now, which is weird." 😅
#BBCTennis #Wimbledon https://t.co/Y0Up3e77zJ