Novak Djokovic insists he is not bothered if he does not get the same Centre Court love as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
The world number one booked a place in his sixth Wimbledon final with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut, but he was in a tetchy mood with the crowd as he suffered a mid-match slump.
He baited them on several occasions, first ironically throwing his hands up when they cheered the Spaniard winning the second set, then shushing them by putting his finger against his lips before cupping his ear after winning a 45-shot rally on break point.
“This has been the dream tournament when I was a child so to be in another final is a dream come true” – @DjokerNole #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/gFLSaYVfJA — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2019
The 32-year-old will meet Federer in the final and knows he will be in a similar position again, but says he is not affected by it.
“Look, I am focused on what I need to do,” he said.
“At times they wanted him to come back to the match, maybe take a lead because he was an underdog in the match. I understand that.
“But I had enough support here over the years, so I don’t complain.
“It won’t be the first time playing against Nadal nor Federer on the Centre Court.
“I’ve had that experience more than once. As I said, I know what to expect.
“I’m going to go out there and fight and give it all. It’s finals of Wimbledon.
“This is the kind of a match that I always dreamt of as a young boy with the tennis racket, dreamt of being part of. This is what I worked for. I wanted to be in this position.
“I have a chance to fight for a trophy. Regardless of who’s across the net or what is happening around, I’ll definitely give it all.”
Bautista Agut, playing in his first grand slam semi-final, has had to delay his stag do in Ibiza this week due to his unexpected run in the tournament, but he showed he was not ready for his time in London to end just yet.
He outplayed the Serb in the second set to level the match up in front of his friends, who flew in from the Mediterranean party island, cutting short a stag party that did not have the main man.
“They came on Thursday as a surprise,” he said. “It was really nice to have them in the crowd. They support me so much.
“Now I think I deserve some vacations. We had everything reserved from Wednesday until Sunday.
“They all knew before it was a small chance to be here, me playing on the quarter-finals. Well, it was nice.
“I think they really had a good plan. They spend Wednesday in Ibiza. They came to watch a good match, the semi-final of Wimbledon. Maybe tomorrow we go back.”
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