Novak Djokovic: Wimbledon Centre Court fans winding him up makes Serb play better, says Tim Henman

Don’t make Novak Djokovic angry. Because he probably wants you to do that.

Winding up the seven-time Wimbledon champion, as some Centre Court fans did by accident or design on Monday, seems to further fuel his insatiable desire for success.

The 37-year-old Serb accused fans of being disrespectful during his fourth-round win, claiming they used the bellowing of his opponent Holger Rune’s surname as “an excuse to boo”.

“If there were people in the crowd trying to antagonise him and wanted Rune to win – that’s the worst thing you can do,” former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman told BBC Sport.

“He loves the confrontation. He thrives off that energy. And he plays better.

“He destroyed Rune.

“If you want to try and upset Djokovic’s performance you should just sit quietly.”

On Wednesday, Djokovic returns to the same evening slot on Centre Court for his quarter-final against Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

Henman thinks the crowd’s reaction towards Djokovic will be “great” and believes Monday night’s drama will not have any bearing on the atmosphere.

“At 37 years of age, and with what Djokovic has achieved, I love that passion and hunger and desire to win. It’s brilliant,” said the former British number one.

Over the years, we have often seen Djokovic feeding off negative energy to produce some of his finest tennis.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is aiming to match old adversary Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon men’s titles this week.

Being a rebel with a cause is how many believe he likes it.

Rune received strong backing in a 6-3 6-4 6-2 defeat, with fans enthusiastically cheering the 21-year-old Dane and elongating the first vowel in his surname as a show of vocal support.

Djokovic insisted it was a noise designed to wind him up.

He doubled down on his view even when on-court interviewer Rishi Persad countered with the logical explanation.

“I think he wants to hear the boos – that makes him play better,” said former Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis.

“If I were to play him I would just give him compliments at the change of ends. I wouldn’t want to annoy that guy, that’s for sure.”

Nenad Zimonjic, who has been described by Djokovic as an “older brother”, presented a slightly different view.

Former Wimbledon doubles champion Zimonjic spent time as a Davis Cup team-mate of Djokovic and was also part of his coaching team earlier this year.

“I think he prefers when the crowd is for him,” the 48-year-old Serb told BBC Sport.

“But he finds a way to use it the other way round as well.”