“Look, it happens”: Novak Djokovic stands by Aryna Sabalenka after French Open final controversy

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has also defended Aryna Sabalenka for her views after the French Open final, which caused some controversy. Sabalenka lost the final of the Roland Garros to Coco Gauff with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Talking after the match, Sabalenka was distraught with the result, having made 70 unforced errors. "I think she won the match not because she played incredible, but because I made all those mistakes," she said back then.

Those comments did not go down well with the tennis world, which criticised Sabalenka for showing a lack of respect towards Gauff, who lifted her second Grand Slam title. Sabalenka later apologised for the comments she made after the final and stated that she regrets having made those comments. "That was just completely unprofessional of me. I let my emotions get the better of me,” she said while talking to Eurosport Germany in an interview published on June 17th. "I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes.

Now, Djokovic has come out in defence of Sabalenka and believes that her message was not clearly presented to the audience. The 38-year-old stated that he expects Sabalenka and other players to learn from such an incident and believes it takes time for players to learn how to react after losing high-intensity matches where a lot is at stake.

“Look, we all at the end of the day are human beings that have difficult emotions at the end of the day that we have to handle right after losing a big match, Grand Slam finals for example, as she did against Coco,” he said while talking to the media ahead of the Wimbledon 2025. “And things happen. When you're heightened with emotions and your blood is running hot, it's not always easy to suppress that and put, how can I say it, diplomacy ahead. Even though, I feel like it's always important to pay respect and acknowledge the success of your opponent that just beat you. I saw what she said and everything and I think in the end she clarified it. Look, it happens. Maybe it came out in the wrong way but she didn't mean to disrespect Coco. Most of the times I had Grand Slam finals with opponents in the last 20 years, the majority of the time is always quite respectful both ways whether I win or lose against my opponents. I think tennis really stands out as a very good example of that compared to other sports because it gives you the opportunity as the finalist to pay your respects to the opponent, but also acknowledge everyone involved in the tournament because there are thousands of people, many volunteers who come that make it all possible for you to get to the final stages. Is it easy? Is it really flowing and natural when you're talking about it? No, absolutely not. But, you learn how to, I guess, develop this mechanism and how to kind of put aside and suppress those emotions. Because it's more important to pay respect, it's more important to really express the graciousness and gratitude of being a part of the tournament.”