Novak Djokovic Gives Verdict On Court Philippe Chatrier Snub At Roland Garros
NewsFriday, 30 May 2025 at 11:01
Novak Djokovic is the most successful tennis player of all time, but even that wasn't enough for him to play his second-round match at this year's Roland Garros at the Court Philippe Chatrier.
Djokovic has one of the biggest fan bases in tennis. There are thousands of fans who want to watch his every match, but his fans had to get used to a bit cosier environment on Thursday at Roland Garros.
For obvious reasons, the 38-year-old Serbian is always the biggest crowd magnet in every schedule, with his match being placed as the "premium" night match. But that wasn't the case for his second-round match against home player Corentin Moutet.
Despite being a 24-time Grand Slam champion and playing a Frenchman, Djokovic still competed only at the Court Suzanne Lenglen, which is the second biggest court at Roland Garros. Around 10,000 fans can watch a match at the Court Suzanne Lenglen, while around 15,000 fans can fit into the Court Philippe Chatrier.
The reason for Djokovic's match not being put on the biggest court was quite obvious, and actually, there were multiple reasons. First of all, there are always four matches played each day on the biggest courts. Two of those are women's matches and two are men's.
That means Djokovic's match could have been only one of the two matches scheduled on the court. One of those spots was reserved for home player Richard Gasquet, who played his last career match and had a ceremony afterward.
The other men's match was that of another legendary Frenchman, Gael Monfils, who is one of the most successful French players in Roland Garros history. With those two French players taking priority, Djokovic had to play on the second-largest court in the complex.
That didn't stop him from beating Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1), and as Djokovic revealed after the match, playing on the smaller court didn't bother him at all.
"I always felt like in the past that Suzanne Lenglen can get very loud. I think also because the fact that you're experiencing the match from up close gets you involved even more. I feel like there is even more, I guess, younger people, more children. That's what I noticed."
"You know, so it was fun. Look, I haven't played in Suzanne Lenglen too many times in the last whatever years, so it was good to experience this."
Djokovic will now focus on his third-round match, which will be against Filip Misolic, who managed to stun Denis Shapovalov in five sets to set up a meeting with the 24-time major winner.
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