Inside the whacky world of Novak Djokovic

Controversial tennis ace Novak Djokovic has once again got attention for all the wrong reasons after he had a temper tantrum when the Wimbledon dared to chant his opponent’s name.

It seemed the crowd were simply cheering ‘Ruuuuuuune’ for his opponent Holger Rune but Djokovic, as he often does, saw things differently, claiming they were boos for him.

Novak Djokovic’s status as one of this century’s greatest athletes is undisputed – not a description that could ever be applied to his views on health and science as he often dabbles in quackery.

His obsession with turning himself into a tennis god has dragged him at times into the realms of faddism and pseudo-science, much to the shock of many of his fans.

A few even think people are conspiring against Djokovic, who has a reported net worth of around £200million, owns two New York penthouses, a luxury Miami beach flat and a Marbella mansion.

On Monday evening, the seven-time champion turned his on-court interview into a rant about what he felt were boos directed at him during his straight-sets win.

‘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,’ he began. ‘And to all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player – in this case me – have a goooooooood night.’

His rather non-plussed BBC interviewer Rishi Persad said: ‘I am hoping they were just commenting on Rune, and they were not disrespecting you.’

Djokovic – who has a track record of taking on crowds – was having none of that. ‘They were. They were [disrespecting me],’ he insisted. ‘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 focus on the respectful people that pay for the ticket, and love tennis and appreciate the players. I played in much more hostile environments, trust me – you guys can’t touch me.’

Rune himself said: ‘I mean, if you don’t know what was happening, probably it sounded like boo. But if we all know what happened, it was my name.’

Djokovic won the match 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and put in by a distance his best display of the Championships so far. Rune was poor, losing the first 12 points of the match and never really recovering.

In his press conference later, Djokovic stood by what he had said.

‘When I feel a crowd is stepping over the line, I react,’ he said. ‘I don’t regret my words or actions on the court.’

He also tweeted a photo after the game of him stretching for a ball across the court, with the caption: ‘Sliding into quarters. Goooooooooooood night.’ 

Nick Kyrgios – who is also known for his on-court meltdowns, told BBC Sport afterwards: ‘It wasn’t [booing] but I think crowds all around the world need to understand that Novak doesn’t need more of a motive to play better. 

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‘He’s driven, one of the best players in the world and I’ve seen it time and time again, the crowd try to poke the bear and that’s not what you want to do against Novak.

‘He loves it. I try not to poke the bear when I play him… and I really struggle with that. Obviously it cost me my Wimbledon final.

‘He doesn’t need more of a motive to go out there and prove to someone he is the greatest of all time.’

Clare Balding also waded in, saying: ‘When Sue Barker came out the other day people were shouting ‘Suuuuuuuuuuuue’. I don’t think it’s booing.’ 

Djokovic’s relationship with the crowd has not always been a friendly one. After beating Roger Federer in the 2019 final, his former coach Boris Becker said he deserved more respect from the crowd who had backed the Swiss star.

And two years ago, he was booed after blowing a kiss to fans following his semi-final win over Briton Cameron Norrie.

Last year, he also played up to the crowd as he took on 20-year-old Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. 

With the crowd backing underdog Alcaraz at times, Djokovic again blew kisses at the fans. 

He was also met with boos during the final when he dented the net post by smashing his racket in frustration, argued with the umpire and glared at the Centre Court crowd.

And in January, the tennis superstar screamed at fans to ‘shut the f*** up’ as he hit out at new rules allowing fans to move around between games at the Australian Open. 

In Wednesday’s quarter-final, fortunately Djokovic will not face a player with a single-syllable surname containing the letter u or a double o. It will be easy to distinguish between boos for him and support for Alex de Minaur.

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But he pair do have history after clashing over Djokovic’s vaccination saga during the pandemic.

Aussie star De Minaur was one of the most vocal players in world tennis addressing Djokovic’s deportation and ban from playing in the Australian Open.

‘Look, Australians have gone through a lot,’ he said at the time. ‘There’s no secret about that. They’ve had it very tough. They’ve done a lot of work to protect themselves and their borders.’

He also laughed upon finding out Djokovic had failed in his appeal and was to be deported from Australia while in a press conference with fellow Aussie Jason Kubler.

When Djokovic beat him last year, he told reporters: ‘I don’t have any relationship with him.

‘I respect him as a rival, a colleague, as I respect everyone. I have no problem contacting him, congratulating him, Et cetera.

‘But I don’t have any other relationship. I don’t have any communication with him. He showed in 2022 what he thinks about me.’

Of course, Djokovic has some immensely enviable qualities – from his linguistic ability, speaking seven languages, to his sporting might of his 24 Grand Slam wins, including seven Wimbledon titles.

Yet that prowess doesn’t always seem to stretch to the credible. With his self-styled health entrepreneur Chervin Jafarieh he promoted the idea that the power of positive thought could cleanse polluted water into the kind that was safely drinkable.

Meanwhile, his wife shared the conspiracy theory that Covid was linked to 5G telecommunication masts.

His anti-vaxx views became apparent in 2022 when he posted a triumphant-sounding Facebook update that he had circumvented vaccine requirements for an undisclosed reason and was heading for Australia – which prompted public fury and his eventual deportation.

This brutal collision with public opinion had been a long time coming, a course plotted since the onset of the pandemic.

Soon after it broke out he took part in a live Facebook discussion with other Serbian sportspeople.

‘Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,’ he said. ‘But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision.’ 

The roots of his beliefs on health are entrenched beyond Covid, back to the beginning of the last decade. It was then that he diagnosed himself as having a wheat allergy by pressing a slice of bread into his stomach.

In 2016 he began working with Spanish coach Pepe Imaz, a strong believer in meditation whose theories extend to, literally, the power of hugging trees. He instituted the ‘peace and love’ gestures that accompany the Serb’s post-match victories.

When Djokovic began developing elbow problems the following year he tried holistic cures before eventually opting for conventional surgery. He later revealed that he cried for three days afterwards at his failure to solve the issue through natural medicine. 

By then he was already a strong believer in using hyperbaric chambers – where his body is exposed to pure oxygen at a much higher pressure than normal – actually bringing a mobile version on a lorry to be parked up at Flushing Meadows for the US Open.

It was not until the virus stopped the world in its tracks that the full extent of his left-field views became more evident.

And then came his organisation of the ill-fated Adria Tour, a series of exhibitions around the Balkans which stuck two fingers up at any Covid restrictions. 

Amid nightclub carousing and close quarters games of basketball many of its participants – including Djokovic and his wife – tested positive for the virus. 

The experience chastened him, but it has not dampened his enthusiasm for spiritual searching. He is, for instance, a regular visitor to the ‘Bosnian pyramids’ which some believe give off a mystic energy.

These are a set of pointed hills which a local archaeologist claims are man-made, an idea condemned as a complete hoax by other experts.

Away from the sport’s rectangles many have already condemned him, although his views on vaccines are more nuanced than sometimes portrayed.

At the ATP Tour event in Belgrade in 2022, which he and his family own, he arranged for those who wanted the jab to be able to get it on site.

It should also be said that no athlete is recorded as having given more to charity through the pandemic than he has done. 

There is also his work in trying to drive through a tennis players’ union at no gain to himself, being as wealthy as he is.

He has always insisted that his vaccine stance is about freedom of choice and what someone puts inside their body. Given the opportunity he missed out on in Melbourne in 2022, his continuing stance could be seen as one of principled self-denial, as well as self-defeating.

One group who will always support him, if he ever returns, is the large Serbian population of Victoria. A few of them have been known to attend the Australian Open wearing T-shirts bearing a slogan that has never seemed more appropriate: ‘Novak Against The World.’