Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics during their second-round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Novak Djokovic sure seemed like someone ready to move on from the latest non-tennis issue he’s been involved in during a Grand Slam tournament. Criticised after his previous match for comments about clashes in northern Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and NATO-led peacekeepers, the 22-time major champion stayed away from political matters on Wednesday night.
When his 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-3 victory over Marton Fucsovics in the second round of the French Open ended, Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, wrote on the lens of a TV camera — a custom at more and more tennis tournaments — and kept it simple, with an autograph and a smiley face.
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It was quite different from what happened after his win Monday, when Djokovic drew attention for writing in Serbian, “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence,” and then speaking out about the matter at a news conference with reporters from his home country.
That drew rebukes from a member of France’s government, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo and the Kosovo tennis federation.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera warned Djokovic on Wednesday morning not to wade into such international issues again at Roland Garros, saying his comments were “not appropriate.” Speaking on TV station France 2, Oudea-Castera said Mauresmo encouraged Djokovic and his entourage to maintain “neutrality” on the field of play.
Asked about Oudea-Castera and Mauresmo, Djokovic responded: “I have no more comment on that. I said what I needed to say.”
As for the underlying topic, Djokovic said: “Of course, I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is. It’s something that I stand for. So that’s all.”
This sort of thing is not exactly new for Djokovic. He did, after all, miss the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2022 because he never received shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. When he returned to Australia this year, he faced questions about his father appearing with a group of people waving Russian flags — at least one showing an image of Vladimir Putin — outside the main stadium.
“Drama-free Grand Slam — I don’t think it can happen for me,” Djokovic said Wednesday. “You know, I guess that…
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