Djokovic reveals ‘silly’ mental trick to help him deal with crowd at Wimbledon
Serbia's Novak Djokovic reveals his ‘silly’ trick that helped him deal with pro-Federer crowd at Wimbledon
It was obvious to anyone watching the men’s Wimbledon final on Sunday to notice that the crowd leaned heavily in favor of eight-time champion Roger Federer over his opponent Novak Djokovic.
The New York Times summed up the crowd’s reaction: When Federer made an error, there were groans; when Djokovic made an error, there was applause.
Still, the booing throughout caught the attention of many on social media. A reporter for Bloomberg tweeted, “I get that it’s a pro-Federer crowd but the booing of Djokovic at Wimbledon was undeserved and sort of pathetic.”
Djokovic revealed a mental trick, according to the Times. After winning the match, after nearly five hours, he told reporters that when the crowd chanted “Roger! Roger,” he said he heard “Novak.”
“It sounds silly, but it is like that. I try to convince myself that it’s like that.”
The sets were 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6 and 13-12 (3). The final lasted nearly five hours, longer than any other Wimbledon final. Djokovic has now won Wimbledon five times.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.