Novak Djokovic says what the French crowd did against Jannik Sinner which he’s never experienced in his career before

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Novak Djokovic gave it his all against Jannik Sinner in the French Open semi-finals but came up short.

The Serbian star stepped onto Court Philippe Chatrier searching for a place in his eighth Roland Garros final.

Unfortunately for Djokovic, standing across the net from him was world number one Sinner, who had only lost two of his previous 46 matches.

Extending that record to 45-2, Sinner defeated Djokovic in three tight sets to advance to his first final in Paris.

After the match, Djokovic gave his verdict on how the crowd reacted during his French Open exit.

Novak Djokovic says he’s never seen Chatrier support him as much as they did against Jannik Sinner

During his post-match press conference, Djokovic shared his appreciation for the Parisian fans.

“Just a great sense of gratitude for the support that I received tonight, it was incredible,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world, so very honored to experience that.”

Reflecting on the match, Djokovic thanked the crowd for lifting him up during tough moments.

“Obviously not the happiest because of the loss, but I try to show my gratitude to the crowd because they were terrific in the moments when it seemed like it was going all his way,” he said.

“They would lift me up, they would encourage me and give me strength to keep going and fight to the last ball, which I did.”

The Serb went on to congratulate Sinner for his performance, giving him credit for how he dealt with the crowd.

“Congratulations to Jannik [Sinner] for another very good and solid performance. I think mentally, he deserves credit for hanging in there in the tough moments when the whole stadium was cheering,” said Djokovic.

“He was set points down and he managed to find some really good shots.

“So he showed why he’s number one in the world. He was just too solid for me.”

Djokovic has now lost four in a row against the world number one, as the Italian takes the lead in their head-to-head 5-4.

The 38-year-old will trail Sinner by at least 6,250 points in the world rankings on Monday, signifying the changing of the guard at the top of men’s tennis.

When will Novak Djokovic return to action on the ATP Tour?

When Djokovic lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, he missed a few weeks of action with an injury.

This time around, he seems healthy enough, although it remains to be seen if Djokovic will play again before Wimbledon.

Djokovic is the only top ten player who hasn’t committed to playing a grass warm-up tournament ahead of the year’s third Grand Slam.

The world number six could, of course, accept a late Wild Card into any of the six grass warm-up tournaments (Stuttgart, Rosmalen, Halle, Queens, Eastbourne, Mallorca), but as it stands, fans will have to wait until the end of the month to see him back on court.

Looking back at his schedule over recent years it seems unlikely he will play a warm-up event, having last done so in singles at Queens seven years ago.

On that occasion, Djokovic reached the final, falling to Marin Cilic in three sets, 7-5, 6-7, 3-6.

He did, however, win Wimbledon shortly after, taking down South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the final.

Only time will tell if we will see Djokovic back in action before Wimbledon but it will certainly be something to watch out for.

The 2025 Wimbledon tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 30.