Novak Djokovic took a swipe at the Centre Court crowd after defeating Kyle Edmund to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Edmund was hoping to make it a double English sporting celebration after the players took to the court minutes after England had booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals.

The occasion almost certainly contributed to the fevered atmosphere, which was fuelled further by Edmund winning the opening set before Djokovic fought back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

After the Serbian was given an overdue time violation in the third set, the crowd cheered exuberantly, prompting Djokovic to blow sarcastic kisses in their direction and cup his ear.

At the end of the match, Djokovic eschewed his now customary demonstration of love for the fans, instead performing a leaping fist-pump towards his box.

Djokovic felt the crowd crossed a line, saying: “I got a time violation deservedly. I thought the crowd’s reaction after that was quite unnecessary.

“A couple of guys were pretending they were coughing and whistling while I was bouncing the ball more or less to the end of the match at that end where I received the time violation.

“I played Andy (Murray) a couple of times (at Wimbledon). I played him in the Olympic Games. It was not like this, definitely.

“They kept on going, provoking. That’s something that I can tolerate for a little bit, but I’m going to show that I’m present, as well, that they can’t do whatever they feel like doing.

"But at times they were slightly unfair to me. That’s how it goes."

Edmund relished the atmosphere and did not feel the crowd went over the top.

He said: “I’m not aware of that. It’s not really my job to get too much into that. For me, I’m British. I’m playing in front of the British crowd. I’m just trying to soak it all in and enjoy it.

“I’ve played in Serbia. Serbian fans obviously supported Serbian players. That’s normal. When you’re on Centre Court, to have the crowd behind you, it’s a great thing to have.”

After the match, Djokovic was also asked why he felt the need to get involved with the fans, and to that he said: "If you were in my position, you would probably understand.

"Playing high-intensity matches where one serve or one shot can really swing the momentum one or the other side, obviously there is a lot of accumulation of emotions, especially in the decisive moments of the set and matches.

"Sometimes you express yourself in a positive or negative way.

"Of course, I don’t like when I throw a racquet or scream or whatever, but I have to accept that I’m a human being like anybody else, that I can feel the pressure as everybody else.

"My interaction with the crowd, I thought had good things and not that great things. I just reacted the way I thought it was fair, the way they reacted to me."