French Open: 'It's absurd!' - John McEnroe defends Novak Djokovic over boos from fans at Roland-Garros

Updated 02/06/2023 at 16:53 GMT

The booing from the fans inside Court Philippe-Chatrier as Novak Djokovic clinched the second set in very impressive fashion did not amuse John McEnroe, who shared his views about the reception the Serb received on commentary for Eurosport. The two-time champion at Roland-Garros let out a big celebration after he sealed the second set, and McEnroe was of the view that it was totally justified.

'It's absurd' - McEnroe defends Djokovic over boos from fans after celebrations and time-out

Eurosport's John McEnroe has defended Novak Djokovic after the 22-time Grand Slam champion was booed during his French Open match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Friday afternoon.

The two-time champion at Roland-Garros celebrated exuberantly - and with good reason - after he battled to taking the second set under a huge amount of pressure from his doughty opponent on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Djokovic, who also got booed for celebrating when he was taking on Aleksandar Kovacevic earlier in the tournament, was quite understandably receiving a medical time-out with Davidovich Fokina in the bathroom when he heard the noise from the crowd.

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"Why do they boo?" McEnroe asked on commentary for Eurosport, somewhat perplexed.

"Everyone does it [take a medical time-out]. It’s totally legal, you’re allowed to work and rub his legs! Where’s Davidoch Fokina? He’s off to the bathroom.

"I totally get his reaction. Are you kidding me? Are you going to boo for this? The other guy’s not even on the court!

"Change the rules if you don’t want to let a guy get worked on, but don’t start doing that. It’s absurd!

"Let’s be real. That’s what he’s been battling his whole career; inspiring and pushing him. It ends up that it actually helped him, in a weird way.

"So as an athlete, if you had a choice between love or respect, you’d love to have both. You’d rather have respect."

'Djokovic is not feeling sorry!' - Boos follow exuberant celebrations

It is certainly not the first time the fans at Roland-Garros have made their displeasure at something known with resounding boos. Djokovic was booed for a big celebration earlier in the tournament, while Taylor Fritz repeatedly shushed the home crowd during his evening victory on Thursday over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

“I can relate to fans being against me, so respect for Taylor. I love that,” McEnroe said of Fritz standing up for himself on court.

“[A hostile crowd] can be extremely intimidating, but it also can be very inspiring. You can use that negative fuel to your advantage.

“I’ve got to hand it to Fritz, he’s done an incredible job getting himself in tip-top shape, he’s one of the best ball-strikers that you’ll see on a tennis court, and he battles.

“He’s got some personality. I’ve been saying this for 50 years, but you play one-on-one against someone, you need that intensity.

“I think Taylor rose to the occasion. He’s a better player than Rinderknech, in my opinion. I don’t think it’s a huge upset that he won that match, but I like to see a little confrontation, a la [Daniil] Medvedev a couple of years ago at the US Open.”