Sometimes, athletes are in such a zone and so engrossed in a game or match that they almost forget where they are in the moment.
That occurred at the French Open on Wednesday—to an extreme. Bosnian tennis player Damir Džumhur was so focused on his second-round match against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard that he didn't realize that it was over—and that he had emerged victorious.
Džumhur, up 5-4 in the fourth set and serving for the match, hit a forehand shot deep towards the back of the baseline, Mpetshi Perricard returned it long, ending the match.
The crowd let out a roar as Džumhur gathered the tennis balls on his side of the court and hit them to the other side of the court for what he thought was Mpetshi Perricard's ensuing service game. As Džumhur heard the chair umpire announcing his victory, he had an amusing moment of realization and then jogged towards the net to shake hands with Mpetshi Perricard.
When you win the match… but don’t realize it 😅#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Ngu4wHWsZh
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2025
Ignorance may indeed have been bliss in this case, as Džumhur indicated after the match.
"I felt stressed in the third set after I had a break up, really. And then in the fourth set, pretty much the same situation,” Dzumhur told the ATP Tour's website. “I actually didn’t know that I was serving for the match, so maybe it was better."
With the win, Džumhur advanced to the third round, where he will face four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tennis Player at French Open Didn't Realize He Won His Match.
