Why Novak Djokovic launched post-win 'pump' celebration at Wimbledon

a day ago

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon)
If you're watching the legendary Novak Djokovic play in Wimbledon 2025, you may see him doing a motion with his arms after he wins: it's a "pumping" motion, something we may not have seen before from the men's tennis great.
So what's the deal here?
There are folks who believe it's Djokovic not-so-subtly throwing support behind students who are protesting in his native Serbia. Their rallying cry is "Pump it!" (or "Pumpaj!"). After a collapse at Novi Sad rail station in 2024, demonstrations began which included students putting together blockades at their schools aimed at the government because of corruption.
The "pump it" phrase is meant to say that they're continuing to put pressure on the government.
But Djokovic claimed it wasn't about the protests, but rather a message to his kids, per a translated answer he gave at Wimbledon:
"Pumping? I'll celebrate every victory like that! ... It's between me and my kids. We've got two songs we've been listening to lately. We talked about how that choreography could be fitting for every win at Wimbledon. That's how I'll celebrate in the future at Wimbledon. It's a symbolic parallel! One is a foreign song, a 'dance' hit called 'Pump It Up,' and the other is 'Throw Everything Off,' where at one point it says 'pump it, pump it, why'd you stop.'"
🇷🇺Djokovic: "Pumping? I'll celebrate every victory like that!"⛽️📷 greeted the crowd at the Central Court of the London complex, then mimicked pumping, a symbol of the student rebellion against the regime in Serbia following the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad and the death of… pic.twitter.com/qfpSFNX1dk
Maybe it's a little bit of both? Either way, there's your answer.

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New York Times

31 minutes ago

New York Times

Another break for Struff

Follow live coverage from our team at SW19 with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka leading Emma Raducanu in the third round under the roof Getty Images Day five at Wimbledon 2025 is wrapping up with women's world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka facing Britain's Emma Raducanu on Centre Court and so far it's been one of the matches of the tournament. Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz (2) is through to the fourth round, along with Americans Taylor Fritz (5) and Amanda Anisimova (13). But the upsets have continued with Madison Keys (6) eliminated. Follow along for the latest updates, analysis and reaction throughout the fifth day from our team at the All England Club in south-west London. Watch: BBC (UK), ESPN (U.S.); Get involved: live@ GO FURTHER Madison Keys latest Wimbledon seed to fall after grass masterclass from Laura Siegemund Getty Images Struff 1-6, *5-3 Alcaraz Just when it seemed like Alcaraz was in control of the match, Struff has stepped on the gas. He breaks Alcaraz's serve with a beautiful backhand and all of a sudden he's one game away from taking the second set! Getty Images In the women's singles, Elise Mertens (24), pictured, has won four games on the spin against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (14). The Belgian is a double break up at 4-1, serving to make it 5-1 in the first set on No. 1 Court. A fine start. Plenty of American interest in today's women's doubles! Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Liudmila Samsonova (15) beat Alycia Parks and Camila Osorio 7-6(5), 6-4, with Quinn Gleason and partner Ingrid Martins outdone by Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider (5), 7-5, 6-3. Elsewhere: Babos/Stefani (10) beat Panova/Guo, pictured, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3; Zhang/Alexandrova (14) beat Hozumi/Sutjiadi 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2 beat Panova/Guo, pictured, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3; beat Hozumi/Sutjiadi 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2 Italians Paolini/Errani (3) were shocked by Chan/Krejčíková, 6-3, 6-2; Dabrowski/Routliffe (2) beat Sönmez/P. Kudermetova 6-3, 6-3 On at the moment, Ostapenko/Hsieh (4) are at one set each against Kostyuk/Ruse, 5-7, 6-2, 0-0 in the third, with all-American pair Hailey Baptiste and Caty McNally 5-1 up in the second set after losing the first 1-6 against Siegemund/Haddad Maia (11). Caoimhe O'Neill/The Athletic It is Zac's first time at Wimbledon and Henry Patten and Olivia Nicholls have just made his day. The British duo just lost their mixed doubles match but when they came off court 17 they gave nine-year-old Zac a moment he will never forget. Patten handed him Nicholls' towel as a Wimbledon keepsake and signed his program too. 'It's my first time at Wimbledon and it feels really good to have this,' Zac said, already excited to share the news with his school friends. 'I got to watch loads of Brits play today and I got this. It's really cool.' Getty Images Struff 1-6, *2-2 Alcaraz Strong response for Struff after having his serve broken, returning the favor immediately. He hits a couple of nice shots, eventually forcing Alcaraz into a difficult stroke that does not make it over the net. Struff 1-6, 1-2* Alcaraz Struff has his serve broken as he rifles a backhand into the net, followed by a small fist-pump from Alcaraz. The No. 2 seed appears to be in firm control of this match at the moment. Getty Images Glad you asked. Top seeds Arévalo/Pavić beat Munar/Martinez 6-3, 6-2; Erler/Frantzen beat Doumbia/Reboul (11) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 beat Munar/Martinez 6-3, 6-2; Erler/Frantzen beat 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 Brazilians Matos/Melo surprised Mektić/Venus (8) 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(6) 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(6) Krawietz/Pütz (3) defeated Romios/Seggerman 6-3, 7-6(3); Nouza/Rikl beat Cabral/Miedler 6-3, 7-6(9) defeated Romios/Seggerman 6-3, 7-6(3); Nouza/Rikl beat Cabral/Miedler 6-3, 7-6(9) Andreozzi/Demoliner got past Romboli/Smith 6-3, 6-4; Hijikata/Pel beat Americans Tracy/Cash 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(11) Getty Images How have things been going in the doubles today? Let's check in, firstly on the mixed doubles. American Withrow and Khromacheva beat Brit Glasspool and Olmos 6-3, 6-3 All-British pair Silva/Paris beat Schuurs/Arends 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) U.S. player Lammons and Panova surprised seventh seeds Perez/Krawietz 7-6(2), 6-4 7-6(2), 6-4 American duo Melichar-Martinez/Harrison were beaten by Jiang/Bhambri, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(6) Coming up later: Wu/Doumbia vs. UK-U.S. pair Krawczyk/Skupski, and Brits Cash/Watson vs. Italians Vavassori/Errani (3) Struff 1-6, *0-0 Alcaraz He makes it look too easy sometimes. Alcaraz paints a serve down the line and all Struff can do is wave at it as the ball blazes by him. First set to Carlos! Getty Images Checking out the men's singles scores, with plenty of sets taken across the All England Club. Nuno Borges, smiling above, has taken the second set 6-4 against Karen Khachanov (17) after losing the first 7-6(6) and is a break up at 2-0 in the third. No wonder he's grinning. Nicolas Jarry leads João Fonseca at 6-3, 6-4, though Fonseca is ahead 4-1 in the third set. Kamil Majchrzak is up 6-3, 7-6(4), 1-0 on serve on Arthur Rinderknech, while Luciano Darderi fought back to take the third set 6-3 after losing the first two 6-4, 6-4 against Jordan Thompson. 2-1 to Thompson, on serve, in the fourth there. Getty Images Struff 1-5* Alcaraz Carlos Alcaraz is rolling already. He lobs a shot towards the back of the court and Struff cannot get enough velocity on the return to will it over the net. Alcaraz is now a game away from winning the first set in under 30 minutes. Impressive work from these Wimbledon fashionistas. Let's see if The Athletic can procure a giant strawberry costume on expenses (pictorial evidence to follow hopefully...). Alcaraz 2-1* Struff Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, is underway against unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff on Centre Court. Alcaraz leads 2-1 on serve so far. Getty Images FINAL: Bellucci 6-7(7), 4-6, 3-6 Norrie The crowd at Wimbledon gives Norrie a standing ovation as he reaches match point. After a brief volley, this match fittingly ends with an unforced error by Bellucci. Loud applause rains down on Norrie as he advances to the fourth round of the tournament. Caoimhe O'Neill/The Athletic After saving a number of match points (so many I lost count) British duo Olivia Nicholls and Henry Patten finally succumbed in straight sets against American Asia Muhammad and Argentine Andrés Molteni (6-3, 6-4). The match was held on court 17 where every now and then a ball seemed to pop out towards the walkway between No. 1 Court and Centre Court. The same place former Real Madrid and Wales player Gareth Bale has just been spotted. Now there's someone who can strike a ball out of the ground. Bellucci 6-7(7), 4-6, *3-5 Norrie Bellucci has no margin for error and he played like it in that game, staving off defeat by breaking Norrie's serve. Can he battle his way back into this match? Bellucci 6-7(7), 4-6, 1-4* Norrie This has turned into a very impressive performance from Cameron Norrie. He just hit a drop shot that Bellucci could only stare at as he breaks serve again and is now just two games away from winning this match in straight sets. Getty Images Let's take a look at the scores around the courts in the men's singles. Jordan Thompson leads Luciano Darderi by two sets, 6-4, 6-4, though he trails 3-1 in the third, with Darderi serving to make it 4-1. Karen Khachanov (17) won the first-set tiebreak 7-6(6) against Nuno Borges, but is a break down at 1-2* in the second. João Fonseca, seemingly performing a Michael Jackson dance move in the picture above, trails Nicolas Jarry 3-6, 4-5*, with Jarry serving for the second set. Kamil Majchrzak and Arthur Rinderknech are locked at 5-5 in the second after the Pole took the first set 6-3.

Struff stress but Carlitos maintains hat-trick charge

Yahoo

32 minutes ago

Yahoo

Struff stress but Carlitos maintains hat-trick charge

Carlos Alcaraz has survived a "stressful" afternoon, coping with a barrage of booming serves from veteran German powerhhouse Jan-Lennard Struff to take his unbeaten streak to 21 matches and keep his Wimbledon hat-trick ambitions on course. The Spanish champion knew all about the danger of the 35-year-old Struff, having been knocked out of the 2021 French Open by him when he was an emerging star and then also getting stretched by the towering German over five sets at the following year's Wimbledon. And the same old problems emerged again on Friday when, after Alcaraz had eased through the first set, Struff, who blasted down 13 aces in all, responded brilliantly to clinch the crucial break for 5-3 before levelling the match. A fourth consecutive 4R at #Wimbledon awaits Carlos Alcaraz 👏The defending champion defeats Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 🇪🇸 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2025 But Alcaraz, who'd also had a serious workout from another veteran, Fabio Fognini, over five sets in the opening round, once again found another gear to prevail 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes. "I knew it was going to be really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot," said the 22-year-old. "His game suits the grass, big serves, coming to the net, so I'm pleased with everything I did today. Proud to get the win in four sets. "To be honest I was suffering in every service game I did. Lots of break points down. It was stressful," added Alcaraz, who set up a last-16 date with 14th seed Andrey Rublev, who eased past veteran French leftie Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-2 6-3. Taylor Fritz, who had already negotiated two marathon five-setters over three days to reach the third round, needed another three hours and 12 minutes to get past Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Yet though his workload has been massive and he's had issues with his knee, he reckons he's actually feeling stronger as each match goes by as he gets ready to face Australian Jordan Thompson, four-set victor over Luciano Darderi, in the last-16. It as the end of the road for Brazil's rising teenage star Joao Fonseca, who couldn't keep his legion of noisy fans happy after losing to the resurgent Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry, who secured a fourth-round meeting with Britain's Cameron Norrie after a 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-4) victory on a raucous No.2 Court. The home fans, fed up after the exit of their big men's hope Jack Draper on Thursday, still have Cameron Norrie, their 2022 semi-finalist, to cheer after the last British man standing beat Italy's Mattia Bellucci 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3.

2025 Wimbledon: Nakashima [34th] vs. Sonego [47th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

USA Today

an hour ago

USA Today

2025 Wimbledon: Nakashima [34th] vs. Sonego [47th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

In the Wimbledon Round of 32 on Saturday, No. 34-ranked Brandon Nakashima faces No. 47 Lorenzo Sonego. Nakashima has -220 odds to earn a win in this match versus Sonego (+170). Looking for this match? ESPN will show it, and more coverage during Wimbledon. Tennis odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Friday at 2:35 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. Brandon Nakashima vs. Lorenzo Sonego matchup info Watch Wimbledon and more tennis on Fubo! Nakashima vs. Sonego Prediction Based on the implied probility from the moneyline, Nakashima has a 68.8% to win. Nakashima vs. Sonego Betting Odds Nakashima vs. Sonego matchup performance & stats