Holger Rune has said that the fans were chanting his name and Novak Djokovic probably misheard the fans due to the accent compared to other countries.
Rune was defeated 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 by Djokovic in a thumping win for the former World No.1. He took aim at the crowd afterwards saying that he knows the tactics and that he knows what they were doing. He dispelled the notion that they were chanting Ruuuune and were using it as a way to boo him.
He then ended by saying have a gooood night to the crowd in reference to it but Rune saw it differently during his post match press conference at Wimbledon. During his run, he saw off Soonwoo Kwon, Thiago Seyboth Wild and Quentin Halys but fell to Djokovic. He now faces Alex de Minaur for a spot in the semi-finals. Miraculous given he is weeks removed from knee surgery.
“It all started at US Open the first time we played each other.. when the crowd chanted my name and it sounded a little bit like ‘boo…’ then we played each other many more times, more like in Italy and France where they don’t pronounce my name the same way. Yeah, now we’re in England. If you don’t know what was happening, probably it sounded like ‘boo.’
"But… if we all know what happened.. it was my name. He’s played so many matches since he played me last time. If he didn’t remember, it could probably sound different for him. But I don’t think it played a massive part in the match. He was just better than me today. Whether the crowd was this or that.. I think it was great support for both players to be honest. They were supporting him on good points. They were supporting me. Nice scenes on Centre Court.”