Novak Djokovic claimed that he didn’t want to watch Carlos Alcaraz’s French Open Final, but was forced to anyway.
The Serbian has won more major championships than any other player with 24, and is going for his eighth Wimbledon title this time around.
However the 38-year-old is on a two year drought from winning majors after coming one major short of the grand slam in 2023.
Djokovic lost in the semi-final to world number one Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros, and revealed in a practice round with Carlos Alcaraz that he wanted nothing to do with the following final afterwards.
Djokovic forced to watch ‘incredible’ French Open Final by his family
After losing to Sinner in the semi-final of Roland Garros, Djokovic went straight back to his home country to be with his family and get away from the sport.
However, the three-time French Open winner wasn’t going to be let off the hook that easily. Djokovic’s family were desperate to watch the game, and forced him to take in what ended up being an all-time classic game of tennis.
“To be quite honest with you, I was in my country with my family and my son and my wife who wanted to watch the final badly,” said Djokovic.
“I said ‘no, I don’t want to watch the finals, I got enough of tennis’. The first part of the match we spent outside and had lunch, and they were very anxious to get back home to turn on the TV.
“We came back and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I wanna watch’, but the match was so captivating that we ended up watching for another few hours. They played almost six hours. It was incredible.
“I give them great credit for giving us this incredible battle for not only the tennis world, but the sports world to watch. It was one of the most historic matches that we’ve had.”
Alcaraz beat Sinner to win the French Open in five sets, and after beating Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon Final, will be confident in doing the double.
‘He showed me no respect’- Novak Djokovic pokes at Carlos Alcaraz over Wimbledon Final
Alcaraz was quick to pay homage to Djokovic during their practice set, which they tied 5-5 on the day. Djokovic was having none of it.
Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon Final last year in straight sets to take his second-straight, and said it was an honour to share the court with the Serbian legend.
“I’m privileged to play with a seven-time champion here, it’s crazy what he has done. Not only on grass but it’s a privilege.”
But while the Spaniard was serving compliments, Djokovic couldn’t help but send it back over the net.
He teased: “I’m looking for a little bit more respect from him. He’s talking about respect but the last two years he didn’t give me the respect on this court.”
Djokovic kicks off his 2025 Wimbledon on Tuesday, taking on Frenchman Alexandre Müller.