Kevin Palmer: Novak Djokovic has been convicted in the court of public opinion – but what are his crimes?

Predictably, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti was no match for Djokovic, who recorded a straight sets win and then used his tennis racket to pretend he was playing the violin, much to the delight of his young daughter Tara, who was watching on in the stands as her Dad played his tribute to her favourite musical instrument.

This was, in fact, a cute moment between a father and daughter, and yet the Centre Court crowd views everything Djokovic does with suspicion.

Some of them might not even have known why they were booing, other than to appreciate this is what they needed to do because Djokovic was celebrating another win.

Yet this is not what a champion of Djokovic’s gravitas should expect.

For a decade and more, tennis spectators have joined in union to ignore the reality that they are privileged to be watching the greatest player of them all, with the court of public opinion passing guilty judgment on this giant of the sport long ago… with no right to appeal.

After the ugly scenes last Monday that saw Djokovic hit back at the crowd in surly fashion after he accused them of booing him during his match with Holger Rune, this latest show of disrespect from the Centre Court audience after his semi-final win was hard to fathom.

In the Rune match, Djokovic was at fault for believing the crowds chanting Rune’s name were boos directed at him, but it is understandable that he has had more than enough of this abuse.

The trouble is, Djokovic has been condemned by those determined to undermine him and nothing he can do now can sway that verdict.

Here is a champion who will aim to equal Roger Federer’s all-time record of eight wins at the All-England Club when he takes on Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last year’s epic final at Wimbledon, while he will also draw level with Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam wins in tennis as he eyes up a remarkable 25th major.

And yet the crowds still boo him.

Tennis legend John McEnroe summed up his predicament as he spoke to the BBC, as he suffered similar negativity from Wimbledon crowds as he lifted his three Wimbledon titles in the early 1980s.

“He has been battling this for his whole career. Yes, he feeds off negative energy and yes I did feed off that at times, but I hated it in a way,” said McEnroe.

“Do you want people yelling against you, hoping you’ll lose, just because you’re so good they start pulling for the other guy for no reason other than you’re so good?

“He is like the Darth Vader, but why? What has he done that is so bad?

“Okay, they are two of the greatest class acts we have seen in tennis, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who can compare to them in terms of what they have brought to the table and the way that people love them? Nobody. Then this guy Djokovic has the nerve to come in and break into the party.

“It’s like ‘how about respecting me in all this?’ Here’s a guy that had surgery a month ago, the odds are that 10 per cent that he wouldn’t play this tournament.

“He is thinking ‘I’m helping this tournament’, which he is, why don’t I get some love when I am playing a guy who is 15 in the world and hasn’t done a damn thing compared to him?”

McEnroe also suggested Djokovic was right to shout back at the fans who have disrespected his status in the game, yet the incident against Rune appears to have deepened the divide between tennis fans and their most prolific champion.

Yet when you break it down to bare facts, it is hard to ascertain what crimes Djokovic has committed to inspire this hate.

His refusal to take a Covid vaccine made him a hero of the anti-vax movement, yet Djokovic was despised by many long before that for a very simple reason highlighted by McEnroe – he wasn’t Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

The Roger and Rafa show was dominating tennis long before Djokovic gate-crashed their party and like the marriage wrecker who ruined a dream, Novak was seen as the disruptor no one wanted.

Prior to Djokovic’s emergence, Federer and Nadal fans were sparring against each other, but they quickly became united in the common cause of taking down Djokovic.

Well, it is safe to say that mission has failed.

With Federer retired and Nadal soon to follow him into the tennis afterlife, Djokovic has overcome all that animosity and a little over a month after he underwent knee surgery, he will compete in a 10th Wimbledon singles final on Sunday.

This outcast knows the sell-out crowd for Sunday’s final will be vocally backing Alcaraz to retain his title and there will be cheers every time Djokovic throws in a double fault or gets broken.

A match between Spanish and Serbian tennis players in front of a primarily English crowd might not be expected to produce such a hostile atmosphere, but this is Djokovic and that changes the story in an instant.

Maybe he is too desperate to be loved and maybe those who enjoy inflicting discomfort on one of the most globally recognisable figures in world sport get a kick out of their Novak-baiting, but we have never seen anything like this when the subject of the derision is such an icon.

Sporting success on the scale this 37-year-old has achieved tends to guarantee respect and reverence.

Djokovic now knows he will fight his own battles until the day he finally hangs up his racket, safe in the knowledge that he will go down in history as the greatest player of all-time.