No.2 seed Novak Djokovic has taken aim at Wimbledon spectators he claims disrespected him during a straight-sets fourth-round win over Danish youngster Holger Rune.

His last-16 tie with Rune had been expected to be Djokovic’s biggest test since having surgery on a torn meniscus last month, but the 24-time grand slam winner eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory on Monday.

Rather than the world No.16 being able to knock Djokovic off stride, it was fans who frustrated the 37-year-old Serb.

The Centre Court crowd was heavily in favour of the Dane, with frequent collective shouts of “Runeeeeeee” between points. It echoed cricket fans’ shouts of “Root” to support England cricket skipper Joe Root.

“To all the fans that had respect and stayed here tonight thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it,” Djokovic said in a heated on-court interview after the match.

“To all those people that have chosen to disrespect the player, in this case me, have a gooooood night. Gooood night, gooood night. Very good night.”

When Djokovic was asked if the crowd was actually chanting Rune’s name and not booing him, he hit back.

“They were [disrespectful], they were, they were. I don’t accept it,” he said.

“I know they were cheering for Rune, but that’s an excuse to also boo.

“Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. Trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works, it is fine. It is fine, it’s OK.

“I focus on the respectful people, they have respect, that pay a ticket to come and watch tonight and love tennis.

“Love tennis and appreciate the players, appreciate the efforts that the players put in here. I have played in much more hostile environments, trust me. You guys can’t touch me.”

Footage of the interview was widely posted to social media with comments such as “unreal” and “the best and coldest post-match interview of all time”.

Novak Djokovic had the best and coldest post match interview of all time. 🥶

Those disrespectful fans deserved all of this.pic.twitter.com/cnyZDxPuxw

— Danny 🐊 (@DjokovicFan_) July 8, 2024

Djokovic headed for the Centre Court exit to initial applause before further chants of Rune followed.

In his seventh consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final, Djokovic will take on the ninth seed, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, on Wednesday or Thursday (AEST).

-with AAP