Maria Sharapova weighs in on the Madrid crowd’s so-called hostile reaction to Novak Djokovic in the world No. 1’s loss to her boyfriend, Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic said he didn’t understand why the crowd was so tough on him.
“Yeah, it’s obvious that that was a tough match for him,” she told reporters. “I’m sure he felt a lot of things weren’t going his way.”
Sharapova also discussed why she called her coach, Thomas Hogstedt, on court during her straight-sets win over Sabine Lisicki on Thursday.
“When you’re playing a Grand Slam your opponent and you are not going to be calling the coach, and those are the important ones,” she said. “So for me it’s really about him bringing that energy to me. That’s what he’s done incredibly well over the last few years. From the first day of practice. His intensity and energy that he brings, it’s nice. Obviously when he comes on court there is nothing he’s going to tell you to change technically so much. It’s more to give that you fresh breath of air or if you’re feeling a little bit down to pump you up a little bit.”