Roland-Garros: How Novak Djokovic Became the Black Beast of the Serbian Regime

Published on June 6, 2025 at 5:52 p.m. , updated on June 6, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.

Novak Djokovic during the Roland-Garros tournament in Paris, June 4, 2025. ROBERT SZANISZLO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP

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Story: Serbian Novak Djokovic, 38, will face Italian Jannick Sinner, 23, in the semi-finals of Roland Garros this Friday. A look back at the last six eventful months of the world number 6, who has been heckled by his country's press after his anti-government stance.

In less than a year, he will have gone from national hero to an opponent whose name is no longer even spoken. Serbian Novak Djokovic , a pillar of Roland Garros, is preparing this Friday, June 6, to play a semi-final against Jannick Sinner in an attempt to win the Parisian tournament for a fourth time. But some Serbs will not be in front of their screens to watch the match at 7 p.m. The reason? A snubbing of the rules by President Aleksandar Vicic and the pro-government media since the tennis player with 100 ATP tournaments publicly supported the student protests in Serbia , reports our colleagues at " Courrier International ."

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To understand, we have to go back to last fall. On November 1, 2024, part of the roof of the Nova Sad train station in Serbia collapsed, killing 16 people. However, the station had reopened four months earlier after three years of work carried out by companies whose selection was opaque. The event lit the fuse: tributes turned into huge rallies and the blockade of bridges, roads, and universities. The protesters, mainly students, demanded the publication of the details of the accident but also an end to corruption in this Balkan country. According to the NGO Transparency , which ranked Serbia 105th out of 180 countries compared, corruption has only grown in the country in recent years.

A month and a half after the accident, as the protests grew, Novak Djokovic posted a message on his X account. "As someone who deeply believes in the strength of young people and their desire for a better future, I think it is important that their voices be heard ," he wrote. "Serbia has enormous potential and its educated youth is its greatest strength. What we all need is understanding and respect. With you, Novak." The text remains sober, but for the mobilized students, the message of "Nole" got through. And the pro-government newspapers prefer to act as if nothing had happened, as " Nova ," a Serbian opposition media outlet, recounts: the message "wasn't even broadcast in the regime's media, many were banned from writing about Djokovic for several days, and when they were allowed to, it was filtered and exclusively about sports."

"The future of our country"

Novak Djokovic quickly clarified his positions. At the Australian Open last January, he wrote on a camera "For Sonja" in tribute to a student hit by a car during a demonstration in Belgrade. At a press conference, he declared bluntly: "My support always goes to young people, students and all those to whom the future of our country belongs." At the end of January, he appeared at a match between the two Belgrade basketball clubs Red Star and Partizan wearing a sweatshirt with the well-chosen inscription: "Students are champions." Another subliminal message interpreted by the students: at the beginning of April, the Serbian champion shared in his story a video of himself arriving at the Monaco Masters by bike in 2017 while several Serbian students were cycling towards the European Parliament. The leading Serbian newspaper " Politika " reacted in an editorial with a timid defense of a Novak Djokovic presented as having "always had his own opinion."

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But it was a story posted on Instagram in early spring that would provoke the anger of the Serbian government. The Grand Slam regular published two photos of a large demonstration in Belgrade followed by the caption: "Historic, magnificent." The tabloid " Informer ," favorable to Aleksandar Vicic, headlined " Djokovic, shame? Novak supports violence and the color revolution" and accused the tennis player of being on the side of "provocateurs and thugs who are trying to create chaos in Serbia."

A month later, at a rally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vicic read a letter from an 8-year-old boy explaining why he loved Serbia. The Serbian president censored the name Novak Djokovic, which is mentioned in the letter, as shown in several camera zooms, according to the media outlet Nova .

Adored in Serbia

Nearly 2000 km from the Philippe Chatrier course, students continue to block universities and the Serbian president continues his standoff by calling them "fascists and Nazis" . On Thursday, another 18 students were arrested, reports " Nova ".

Since the start of the Paris tournament, Novak Djokovic has yet to comment on the matter. The 38-year-old, who joined the ATP Tour over twenty years ago, has always been supported by the Serbian authorities. Even in 2021, when he rebelled against the requirement to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate in certain tournaments. Each of his victories gives rise to scenes of celebration in Belgrade. And the world number 6 is followed by more than 25 million people on his social networks, four times more than the number of inhabitants of Serbia, underlines France info .

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In 2023, during the Serb's third victory at Roland Garros, President Aleksandar Vicic, in power since 2017, posted a photo of the champion on X, commenting "Congratulations Nole and thank you for everything! Long live Serbia!" Will he do the same this year?