Novak Djokovic lost his temper and told a rowdy spectator to ‘shut the f*** up’ during his defeat by Casper Ruud in the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals.
The visibly irate World No 1 crashed out of the tournament after a 6-4 1-6 6-4 loss to the 10th-ranked Ruud on Saturday night as his struggles in 2024 continued.
It proved Ruud’s first victory over the 24-time Grand Slam title winner in his six attempts – with Djokovic losing out in the deciding set and voicing his frustration.
Djokovic was caught on camera turning to a spectator and unleashing a string of expletives, seemingly furious at the noise emanating from the stands.
Having missed a simple forehand while trailing 3-4, Djokovic, standing on the cusp of another setback, span round before fixing his attention on the rowdy individual.
Djokovic had struggled in the early stages of the match and dropped two of his opening three service games, with Ruud taking the first set in decisive fashion.
The 36-year-old responded in style, however, and took the second set to take the showdown the distance and set up what proved to be a nail-biting deciding set.
But Djokovic double-faulted on Ruud’s match point to consign himself to defeat.
