Novak Djokovic is just one example of a superstar athlete who manages to find motivation wherever possible. Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady are others who come to mind.

With Djokovic, it often derives from 鈥� or at least his perception that there are 鈥� crowds who are against him. At Wimbledon, the was certain that people in the stands 鈥� and Djokovic, to use a meme-generating phrase associated with Jordan, took that personally.

He objected to the 鈥渄isrespect鈥� he thought was being directed his way at Centre Court on Monday night while moving a step closer to an eighth title at the All England Club.

鈥淚 played in much more hostile environments, trust me,鈥� Djokovic told the rowdiest folks there. 鈥淵ou guys can鈥檛 touch me.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the first time was riled up by spectators cheering against him 鈥� he famously described pretending chants of 鈥淩oger! Roger!鈥� (as in Federer) were actually his own two-syllable name, 鈥淣ovak! Novak!鈥� 鈥� and probably won鈥檛 be the last.

Djokovic, who will be back on Centre Court on Wednesday against Alex de Minaur, turns it into fuel.

鈥淪ome of the greatest athletes of all time feel slighted a lot. They use it to give them inspiration: 鈥業鈥檓 going to beat you,鈥欌�� James Blake, a former professional player who reached No. 4 in the rankings, said Tuesday. 鈥淚n the grand scheme of things, what went on yesterday wasn鈥檛 a huge deal. But he used it for motivation, so good for him. I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 not easy every day. You鈥檙e the greatest of all-time already and you want to push yourself to beat someone that鈥檚 fired up to play you. So you use whatever you can use.鈥�

As 2003 Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis described it, Djokovic 鈥渨ants to hear 鈥榖oo,鈥� to be honest with you, because it makes him play better. If I were to play him, I鈥檇 just give him compliments on a change of ends.鈥�

Djokovic was asked after his straight-set victory over Holger Rune 鈥� 鈥淩uuuuuune!鈥� sounds like 鈥淏oooooo!鈥� 鈥� in the fourth round Monday whether there鈥檚 anything that could be done about over-the-top interjections from the seats.

He said he doesn鈥檛 think so and acknowledged that ticket-holders can support whichever player they want.

There are those who like that element of the sport.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of good, too, when you see emotion from players, when someone gets upset or annoyed. It鈥檚 theater,鈥� former top-10 player Alicia Molik said.

鈥淥ften, it鈥檚 silent, but (players) have to take a bit of the noise and the vocal fans at the same time. Maybe if it was the U.S. Open, no one would notice as much, because we鈥檙e so used to it being so loud,鈥� Molik said. 鈥淏ut at Wimbledon, there鈥檚 a bit more of a hush, isn鈥檛 there? So probably every word muttered is a little magnified here.鈥�

Another player who was sensitive to what was being said in the tournament鈥檚 main stadium on Monday was Alexander Zverev, the two-time major finalist who was wasted a two-set lead and was .

When their match ended, Zverev complained to Fritz about things he heard coming from the American鈥檚 guest box 鈥� not his coaches, but from people 鈥渢hat are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe (used to) watching every single match; they were a bit over the top.鈥�

Unlike Djokovic, Zverev wasn鈥檛 able to enjoy getting the last word in the form of a victory.