Novak Djokovic 'arrogant' and a 'prize prat' after walking out of BBC Wimbledon interview

A body language expert has claimed that Novak Djokovic “made himself look like a prize prat” after analysing a 98-second BBC interview before the Serbian star walked out early.

Djokovic was furious at the Beeb’s reporter for asking three questions about his reaction to the Wimbledon crowd, having called out those on Centre Court for what he perceived to be jeers during a straight-sets win over Holger Rune.

When the BBC attempted to change the topic to Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent, Alex De Minaur, before the Aussie pulled out of their match due to injury, the seven-time champion had his body language analysed by body language expert Darren Stanton.

“He made himself look like a prize prat quite frankly,” Stanton told Grosvenor Sport. “When he spoke to the crowd after the match, that’s a sign of arrogance and dominance. He spoke very condescendingly to the crowd. He made himself look very silly in his interview straight after the game.

“In the recent interview with the BBC journalist, his underlying emotion was one of anger. You notice the micro-expressions of anger, his eyebrows pull together, his eyes and lips go narrow and he tilts his head down. The underlying feeling is anger.

“He’s also got the quickest blink rate of anyone I’ve seen for quite some time. It doesn’t mean he’s lying in anything that he’s saying but his level of aggression has gone from 0 to 60 in a matter of milliseconds.”

Stanton pinpointed how Djokovic’s manner changed dramatically when asked about the crowd, who he thought were jeering him and split opinions even between BBC pundits John McEnroe and Clare Balding.

“When the journalist asks questions about the crowd, he turns into Mr. Blinky,” Stanton added. “That’s his anxiety as well as his anger and his stress level going up because he’s blinking like something is in his eye and that’s his tell for when he’s angry.

“You can also tell how he’s feeling with his lips, where he tucks them in and that’s all for self-reassurance. He’s also what we’d call a very kinesthetic person. When he’s answering he looks down to the right from his perspective like a lot of athletes tend to do.”

Stanton felt that Djokovic ended up “looking silly” by quitting early in front of the BBC, before also continuing his rampage and taking aim at his own sponsor after ranting at the BBC and Centre Court crowd.

“In his mind, he feels that his response is completely justified by that outburst when the crowd were only chanting for Rune,” Stanton explained. “He’s just ended up looking silly in front of a global audience with the story going viral and he looks cheesed off by the journalist’s questions.”