"Novak Djokovic is just an awful person" - Fans aghast by Serb's 'dirty gimmicks' during Wimbledon 1R win

Novak Djokovic kickstarted his campaign for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon title on Tuesday (July 1) in hard-fought fashion, overcoming France's Alexandre Muller in a tough four-setter to advance to the second round. The Serb took a medical time-out midway through the third set of his opener, which has since attracted the ire of the tennis community.

Djokovic was taken to the distance by World No. 41 Alexandre Muller in their first-round bout at SW19. After establishing a set lead, the 24-time Major winner wasted three set points to drop the second set in a tiebreaker. He then took a medical time-out at 2-1 down in the third set that turned out to shift the momentum of the match in his favour.

Following his third-set MTO, Novak Djokovic got completely on top of the proceedings as he won six of the next eight games to eventually record a 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2 win in three hours and 21 minutes. Unfortunately, the 38-year-old's decision to take a time-out to have his right leg tended to upset a few tennis fans, many of whom have since accused him of faking his injury.

While one fan rued the former World No. 1's "gimmick" of apparently throwing in medical time-outs during matches to stall his opponents, another called the seven-time Wimbledon titlist "an awful person".

"Djokovic mto and physio gimmicks in the first round man its over for everyone," one fan insisted on X (formerly Twitter).

"He is just an awful person. Plays up when things dont go his way." another asserted.

A few others, meanwhile, also spoke out against the Serb's MTO during his first-round win at Wimbledon.

"Definitely he must be the Guinness record holder for most MTOs in tennis history," one fan joked.

"Fraudster and his medical time out is just disgusting!" another claimed.

"Novak, we see right through this. Quit it. It’s been YEARS," one more fan suggested.

"Textbook Djokovic move to make sure he gets the crowd back on side and acting like he's playing on against all the odds," another fan claimed.

"He's doing it against 'muller''i'm f***ing crying," one more fan joked.

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Novak Djokovic to face local favourite Dan Evans in the second round of Wimbledon 2025

Seeded sixth, Novak Djokovic will next face a resurgent Dan Evans in the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon. The Serb will be eager to win this match, considering it will bring him closer to achieving an impressive feat. The 38-year-old is two wins away from securing a haul of 100 singles victories at SW19 with only 12 losses to his name.

That said, the former World No. 1 will likely be wary of the danger that Evans poses to him. Although he's ranked at a lowly 154th in the world, the Brit has a good aptitude for grass and reached quarterfinals at the Queen's Club Championships and the Eastbourne Open in the lead-up to Wimbledon.