Novak Djokovic has always been a polarizing player on, and off, the tennis court. His appearance at this year’s French Open is no different.
In the 24-time major champion’s second round match at Roland-Garros vs. France’s Valentine Royer, the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier was heavily rooting against Djokovic. The crowd’s favoritism probably had more to do with the French crowd cheering for one of their own players rather than the crowd specifically hating on Djokovic. But, the audience’s reactions in certain moments of the match definitely set up an intense tone in the stadium.
During one of Djokovic’s service games a spectator apparently disrupted the Serbian’s focus while he was trying to serve. The crowd then erupted in boos toward Djokovic. The chair umpire tried to shush the audience by saying, “Please have some respect.” The word “respect” stuck out to Djokovic, and he quickly quipped back saying “They don't have respect, no respect, no respect.” He was clearly very frustrated with the crowd, but the umpire’s command did stop the booing and began clapping instead.
The heated moment was caught on camera, where you can clearly hear Djokovic’s response.
"They don't have respect, no respect, no respect." 😳
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 27, 2026
Djokovic was NOT HAPPY after his serve got interrupted by a spectator 👀
Watch Roland-Garros on TNT 📺 pic.twitter.com/PHrIxuXRSY
This wasn’t the only fervent moment in the match. During the third set tiebreak, Royer won a crucial point after the ball hit the net tape and dropped awkwardly on Djokovic’s side of the court. An unwritten rule in tennis is that the player typically waves their hands up in an apology if they win a point on a sheer luck moment like that, especially if the net is involved. However, Royer failed to do any sort of action to apologize to Djokovic and instead pumped his fist in celebration. You can probably guess that Djokovic was not happy with this.
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In response, Djokovic got Royer’s attention by pointing at him, then put his thumb up and hit his racket, almost signaling like, “Hey, you forgot to do something.” Royer then immediately waved to apologize.
TNT Sports analyst Jim Courier artfully detailed what was probably going through Djokovic’s head in this awkward moment. There’s no doubt that Royer’s lack of apology rubbed the 39-year-old the wrong way.
“Djokovic wanted an apology for the return that Royer hit off of the tape that stayed in the net. So that’s what the little discussion back and forth at the end of this rally was about,” Courier said. “Royer pumps his fist but doesn’t offer an apology in advance. Novak says, ‘Hey buddy, you owe me one.’ Which Royer then turned around and gave him one. He has poked the bear.”
Novak Djokovic’s reaction after losing a big point against Valentin Royer at Roland Garros.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 27, 2026
Royer hit a return that touched the tape, Novak eventually lost the point.
Jim Courier: “Djokovic wanted an apology for the return that Royer hit off of the tape that stayed in the… pic.twitter.com/6LkQ178z5J
Djokovic held off Royer in four sets, winning 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, to advance to the third round. The No. 3 seed will go on to face either Brazilian Joao Fonseca or Croatian Dino Prizmic on Friday.
Both of Djokovic’s matches at Roland-Garros so far have gone four sets. He’s seen as one of the top players to have a chance of taking down clear favorite Jannik Sinner for the title as they sit on opposite sides of the bracket. Djokovic is still looking to win that elusive 25th major title, which would be the all-time record in all of tennis history.
