Djokovic the conductor says crowd interactions calm him down, focus his mind

It was a scene we’ve witnessed many times before; Novak Djokovic, in a little bit of trouble in a match, takes on a hostile crowd and uses it to his advantage.

In Monte-Carlo on Thursday, the world No 1 found himself an early break down to Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian who beat him at the same stage of the event 12 months ago.

Ay 4-3, 40-0 down, he was facing the likely loss of the first set but after an altercation over a line-call, the crowd began to whistle him. That, as so many have learned in the past, was a bad move for their man. Djokovic relaxed, conducted the crowd, found his game and eased away to victory, despite a wobble in the second set.

“I try to transform the energy into something that is constructive for me,” Djokovic said, when asked how he uses such situations. “I’m not looking for trouble with crowd. You know, I’m not there coming out, Okay, start whistling at me and I’ll play better.

“It’s not the kind of mentality I have. But if people start to react in a certain way that I don’t think I deserve, you know, I don’t think it’s fair, if I don’t think it’s anyhow explainable, then, you know, I’ll react back. I have grown up with that kind of mentality that if somebody is doing something wrong to you, you stand your ground.”

Djokovic: “I had a little smile on my face”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion has been in that kind of situation so many times that he knew he would be able to cope. He said sometimes such interactions calm him down, sometimes they focus his mind.

“Sometimes more concentrated, sometimes more relaxed, because there is a lot of tension on the court with you trying to play best tennis and feel your best, and opponent. Of course Musetti until that moment, that game, was the better player.

“I didn’t feel so comfortable playing, because I was, you know, dominated by Musetti at that point. And then, you know, I guess it came at the right moment. You know, it’s one of these things that just, in a way, also relaxes you and it’s just, I don’t know, I had a little smile on my face and a little symphony conducting, and, you know, it worked.”

Djokovic takes on Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarter-finals on Friday.

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