In 2022, a young & fearless 19 year old Holger Rune defeated Novak Djokovic in the final of Paris Masters. Performing at the highest level week in, week out, though, is a much greater task than producing occasional, early flashes of brilliance. Two years on from that striking encounter, Rune has not made as much progress as he hoped.
Under the Centre Court roof on Monday evening, Novak Djokovic thoroughly outplayed Rune and silenced the crowd, returning to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.
The match was also notable for the crowd’s cheers, with spectators bellowing “Ruuuune” throughout the evening in a deep, elongated chant that sounded similar to booing.
After his victory, Djokovic thanked the respectful parts of the crowd and criticized those who he felt disrespected him. With his angry rant he said “I’ve played in a much more hostile environment, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”
This is the 15th quarter final in his career at Wimbledon and 60th overall. Djokovic has recently underwent surgery on the torn medial meniscus that forced him to withdraw from the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Throughout the match, Djokovic served well, dictated most exchanges from the baseline and cycled through his arsenal of shots well, keeping Rune guessing with drop shots and net approaches while remaining solid in key moments. As the crowd’s cheers became louder, Djokovic gestured towards some members of the audience. Still, he remained extremely solid as he closed out the win.
“To all the fans that have respect and stayed here tonight, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” Djokovic said. “And to all the fans who have chosen to disrespect me, have a gooood night,” he added, referencing the “Rune” chants.
Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur, the ninth seed, in quarter-final No. 60 on Wednesday. Earlier, De Minaur defeated Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The Australian suffered an injury scare at the end of the match after sliding out to his forehand, but he later said he was OK. Taylor Fritz, seeded 13th, continued to play some of the best tennis of his career as he pulled off a spectacular comeback from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
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