Wimbledon – Novak Djokovic happy to be Centre Court final ‘villain’ against Roger Federer
The 32-year-old Serb reacted angrily to fans’ support for semi-final opponent Roberto Bautista Agut during his 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
And, despite being a four-time Wimbledon champion himself, Djokovic is expecting Federer to get the louder cheers as the latter looks to extend his record haul of SW19 crowns to nine
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Hide AdMaking light of his potential pantomime-villain role, Djokovic insisted: “Look, I am focused on what I need to do.
“At times they wanted him (Bautista Agut) to come back into 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 he has experienced playing Federer on the Centre Court either.
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Hide AdDjokovic is currently 2-1 up in the pair’s Wimbledon meetings, beating the Swiss supremo to win back-to-back finals in 2014 and 2015 in five and four sets respectively, having lost the pair’s first meeting on the hallowed turf - a last-four meeting in 2012 - when Federer prevailed 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3.
“I’ve had that experience more than once,” Djokovic said of the prospct of facing Federer on grass. “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 my all.”