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Jun 28, 2025 05:58 PM IST
Novak Djokovic was initially uninterested in watching the French Open final, but was drawn in by his family and the quality that Alcaraz and Sinner showed.
Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Jannik Sinner in the French Open 2025 final is one that will go down as legend in the tennis history books — but their titanic contest was almost missed by one of the greatest tennis players of all time, as Novak Djokovic revealed that he had no intention of tuning in for the first grand slam final between the two players seen as his successors at the top of the sport.
However, Djokovic did tune in to watch Alcaraz’s historic come-from-behind victory in which he saved three match points before winning a phenomenal final-set tiebreaker. Speaking to Wimbledon’s social media channels while practicing against the Spaniard on Centre Court, Djokovic recited the tale of how his son Stefan and wife Jelena were more interested in the match than he was, leaving Alcaraz smiling with joy.
“To be quite honest with you, I was in my country with my family. My son and my wife wanted to watch the finals badly. I said I didn’t want to watch the finals, I got enough of tennis,” explained Djokovic. The Serb former world number one had been easily beaten by Sinner in the semifinal round just days prior.
Djokovic full of praise for Sinner and Alcaraz showcase
“The first part of the match, we spent outside, had lunch. They were very anxious to get back home so they can turn on the TV when the guys were playing. We came back and I was like I don’t know if I want to watch,” explained the men’s grand slam record holder. However, once he had gotten a sniff of the quality on show between these two remarkable athletes, he was hooked on to watch.
“But the match was so captivating that of course we ended up watching for another few hours. They played almost 6 hours, it’s incredible,” said the 38-year-old. “Incredible match, I gave huge credit to both of them for producing this battle for not just the tennis world but the sports world to enjoy. It was just one of the most historic matches that we had.”
Sinner and Alcaraz, now the number one and two in the world, will be the favourites heading into Wimbledon, where the Spaniard is gunning for a hat-trick of titles. However, seven-time champion Djokovic will be fancying his chances to push the two younger stars, having reached the final each of the last two years and hungry for a record-setting 25th grand slam title. His campaign begins with a first round match against Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
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