PARIS – After everything that Novak Djokovic had put himself through over the past few years, the French Open began with the possibility, finally, of a Grand Slam tournament free of drama.
But three days into the Open, Djokovic has put himself at the centre of the mounting international crisis in the Balkans, where ethnic Serbians and Albanians have clashed in recent days in the conflict over Kosovo.
The message that the Serbian tennis star scrawled Monday night on a plexiglass plate overlaid on a television camera lens – “Kosovo is at the heart of Serbia” – has sports officials calling for him to be disciplined, muzzled or both, and Albanian loyalists calling him a fascist.
“A drama-free Grand Slam, I don’t think it will happen for me. I guess that drives me, as well,” Djokovic said, after he beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary on Wednesday night.
The 22-time Grand Slam tournament champion struggled to find his timing early on, with the wind gusting as day turned to night. But as the light faded the wind did too, and Djokovic cruised, finishing off the steady Fucsovics, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, 6-3, in 2 hours and 44 minutes. But as it is so often with Djokovic, what is happening on the tennis court this week is only a fraction of the story.
The World Health Organization recently declared an end to the Covid-19 health emergency and the United States ended its requirement for foreign travellers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, ending discussion of Djokovic’s decision not to receive the vaccination. He was forced to skip some of the most important tournaments in tennis over the past two years, and last year was detained and deported from Australia before the Open.
He didn’t even have to worry about his main nemesis, with Rafael Nadal missing this year’s French Open, a tournament he has won 14 times, because of an injury. Djokovic continues his usual march toward the second week of the tournament – although top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz may pose trouble.
After Djokovic’s first-round match Monday, like every winning player on the stadium courts at major tennis tournaments, he grabbed a marker for the traditional signing of the courtside television camera.
The practice, which began in the 2000s as a way for players to connect with fans, gives them an opportunity to send an international television audience a typically cheerful message like “Vamos!” (Spanish for “Let’s go!”), wish a loved one “happy birthday” or write their child’s name.
Occasionally the scrawl expresses a political opinion. In the days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian player Andrey Rublev wrote “No War Please” on the lens plate.
Writing in his native language and drawing a heart, Djokovic’s message followed a weekend of violent clashes between Serbian protesters and Nato forces who have been trying to maintain a tense peace in the region for 15 years.
Roughly an hour later, during the Serbian portion of his post-match news conference, Djokovic, whose past political statements have been suffused with Serbian nationalism, doubled down.
“I am against wars, violence and any kind of conflict, as I’ve always stated publicly. I empathise with all people, but the situation with Kosovo is a precedent in international law,” Djokovic said, according to the widely circulated translations. He called Kosovo, “our hearthstone, our stronghold,” and said, “Our most important monasteries are there.”
