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Novak Djokovic reveals reason behind blowing kiss to Wimbledon crowd: 'It's never pleasant to have...'
Despite a big win over Cameron Norrie, the crowd booed at Djokovic, who lifted the title at the All England Club six times, for his post-win act. But the Serb later explained the reason behind his kiss celebration.
Battling from a set down and against a hostile crowd, three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic beat Cameron Norrie in a four-set tie in the semi-final to reach his eighth Wimbledon final. Yet the crowd booed at the Serb, who lifted the title at the All England Club six times, for his post-win act. But Djokovic later explained the reason behind his kiss celebration.
Before he served out for victory, a section of the crowd shouted at Djokovic and immediately after winning the match, the 20-time Grand Slam winner looked back and blew a kiss towards the Wimbledon crowd on Centre Court. However the spectators did not appreciate the act and rather launched a chorus of boos.
Djokovic however downplayed the act and denied that it was from a troll.
“No no [it wasn’t a troll], I was blowing kisses to somebody that was cheering for me,” he said.
The 35-year-old however admitted that it was difficult to with the crowd supporting home favourite Norrie through the match.
“Look, it's never pleasant to have the whole stadium cheering for your opponent. Of course, it's something that I expected coming into the match. It was logical for that to happen because he's [the] hometown hero, they wanted him to win. I knew what kind of environment I'm going into,” Djokovic said.
“But I felt like I was maintaining my focus pretty well considering. I sat down, wasn't playing well, feeling well, but somehow I managed to turn the match around. He was asking for the support of the crowd and he was getting it. It was not easy to close out the match for me, I felt a lot of pressure to serve it out,” he added.
Djokovic will now be up against Nick Kyrgios in the final as the Serb aims for his fourth straight title at the SW19 and a 21st career Grand Slam title.
