French Open 2023: Novak Djokovic laments 'disrespectful' fans after longest match in career

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Tennis star Novak Djokovic has seen his ups and downs with the fans. The Serbian athlete is known for his flamboyance on the court and sometimes, a bit too competitive.

And the player has always found motivation amid adversity. All the negativity which has been hurled at him has only been defenestrated with a robust backhand by the player. And it happened on Friday (June 2) at the Roland Garros once again.

Djokovic secured an important win in the 3rd round of the ongoing French Open on Friday (June 2). He won 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2 over 29th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and had to grind for the victory. The straight sets victory didn't come in quick time as it took 3 hrs 36 mins for the star to beat his opponent, the longest 3-set game in Djokovic's career.

But after the match, the Serbian player lamented some fans with whom he engaged in a gesture spat during the match.

After winning the second set in a stellar fashion, Djokovic took a couple of steps toward the sideline and got animated. The player was in bold celebration as he was spinning around holding his right fist aloft and roaring.

That drew some unfriendly noises from the crowd. The displeasure among the spectators heightened when the chair umpire soon announced Djokovic would be taking a medical timeout as physio was massaging his right leg.

Djokovic perceived the negativity and replied with gestures. He waved a hand, as if to say, "Give me more!" He gave a sarcastic thumbs-up, nodded and applauded.

And after the match, the Serbian made it clear he didn't like the response from those particular sets of fans.

"A majority of the people comes to enjoy tennis or support one or the other player. But they are individuals. There are people - there are groups or whatever - that love to boo every single thing you do. That's something that I find disrespectful and I frankly don't understand that," Djokovic said later at his news conference.

"But it's their right. They paid the ticket. They can do whatever they want," he added.

The player also defended his gestures by saying those 'disrespectful' fans deserved a response from him.

"Sometimes I will oppose that, because I feel when somebody is disrespectful, he or she deserves to have an answer to that. That's what it is all about," Djokovic concluded.