Novak Djokovic gestures to the crowd as he is interviewed after defeating Holger Rune in their fourth round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on July 8.Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press
Though it’s a few days from ending, this year’s Wimbledon has already ticked off the moment everyone will remember.
That would be Novak Djokovic ripping a late-night crowd at Centre Court because they had been insufficiently deferential.
In the post-match on-court interview, Djokovic was prompted to say something nice about all the people who pay bonkers amounts of money for resale tickets. He first thanked “all the fans who have respect.”
Not quite getting that there was a “but” coming, the audience applauded itself.
He continued: “And to all those people who have chosen to disrespect the player – in this case, me – have a goooooood night.”
Djokovic was still out of breath after a two-hour-plus match. When did he have time to come up with this parody of booing? It must have been while he was knocking the straw out of Holger Rune. Talk about multitasking.
The crowd booed in response.
Djokovic waved and kept on: “Goooooood night. Goooooood night.”
The booing amped up.
The interviewer explained that they weren’t booing him, they were saying “Ruuuuuuune” (as was foretold by the ancients, another Simpsons bit has become real life).
“I don’t accept it,” Djokovic snapped.
Where you land on this incident probably depends on your age and stage.
If you’ve been along for the whole ride with Djokovic, you get his point. He’s earned some awe.
If you only know late-stage Djokovic – the one who can put vitamins in water with his mind – you think he should get over himself.
That makes me a member of the former camp. Would a crowd of SW19 toffs have ever dreamed of “Ruuuuuune”ing their way through a Roger Federer match? Absolutely not. If I were Djokovic, I’d be put out, too.
He has continued to stamp around Wimbledon since, including walking out of an interview in which he was asked about the outburst. The lay of the draw has set him up for a likely final with Carlos Alcaraz. Great. Another chance to explore the extremes of tennis’s generations issue.
Djokovic (37) is whatever you call a middle millennial, but he’s treated like a boomer. He’s got too much, been there too long and shows no indication of making way. The more people turn on him, the crankier (and more interesting) he gets.
If Alcaraz (21) represents tennis’s Gen Z, he is not representative of it. He’s too good. Most of his peers are still trying to figure out which way on the racquet is up.
For a long time, the youngsters tugged a forelock in the presence of their elders. Too long, probably. Then Alcaraz arrived and upset the order of succession.
Nothing has changed in terms of performance at this year’s Wimbledon. The usual suspects in the men’s draw; a grab-bag of assorted Eastern Europeans on the women’s side.
One thing has changed, though. The elaborate courtesy that keeps both tours from becoming one big high-school cafeteria has begun to slip.
It’s little things that wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago when Federer and Serena Williams were in charge.
Djokovic’s continued foul humour, for one. Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend mocking Alexander Zverev after a defeat. Nick Kyrgios causing rhetorical chaos on the BBC broadcast team. When it’s not clear who’s in charge, the centre cannot hold.
Nothing has been more indicative of that widening gyre than the spat between Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray’s mother.
This Wimbledon was Murray’s farewell, though he’s had more of those than The Who. He tried to play singles and couldn’t. He played doubles and lost. His last gasp was mixed doubles. Raducanu agreed to be his partner.
It was hard not to see it as a hedge on her part. Raducanu has become famous for losing. Murray would be the life raft she could use to float into the tournament’s second week if things went wrong in singles.
‘Altruism’ is not high on the list of personality traits of high performers. Wasn’t Murray selfish for coming back while injured just to take one more bow?
Raducanu turned out to be more so. When her singles game began to shape up, she ditched Murray the morning of what could have been his last match at Wimbledon.
Murray’s mother took offence on her son’s behalf, calling the decision “astonishing.”
Is it?
Raducanu was 10 years old when Murray broke Wimbledon’s British curse. Why should she care about his legacy? She’s got about as much nostalgic connection to Murray as she does to Stan Smith or Bjorn Borg. He’s just another oldster people recognize.
The more Raducanu tried to explain – she was “prioritizing [my] body” – the angrier middle-aged people got.
“Shame on you Emma Raducanu for abandoning Andy Murray,” read one headline in the Daily Mail.
Abandoning? This is a nearly 40-year-old man. Why is his mother doing his talking for him? Why is the media going on about him like he’s a wounded veteran rather than a rich guy with a bad back?
Raducanu’s mistake was misunderstanding how average people feel about their sporting contemporaries.
Growing older is easy. You get to about 35 and nothing changes until you die.
But watching an athlete about your age nearing the end of his/her useful sporting life? That’s awful. It’s visual proof that time is passing.
It’s especially bad with tennis, because most of us are only paying close attention a couple of times a year. Irregular exposure highlights small changes – crows’ feet maybe, or a slight slowing down.
It’s been harder to watch Rafael Nadal go gradually bald than it was to lose all my own hair. Because I know that once he is creaky, I will be geriatric.
Some day, the Raducanus of the world will understand this pain. She’ll be the one getting ditched by some up-and-comer or blanked by a crowd that once loved her.
At which point, the Djokovics, Murrays and I will swing around to defend her, now that she is one of us.