'They have no respect': Novak Djokovic slams French crowd's boos in victory over local hope

Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of his head during changeovers to keep cool amid the Paris heat wave at the French Open.

The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer — who is 15 years younger than him — for more than 3½ hours before he reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3 victory.

For the fourth straight day of this year's tournament, the temperature rose above 32 degrees.

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"When you play a three-and-a-half hour match on clay, it's long and very exhausting," Djokovic said. "These days have been really, really very challenging for a lot of players."

When Djokovic won a key point early in the fourth set with a forehand that he whipped around the net post from far off the court, the 24-time grand slam champion waved his arms toward the crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The Serbian star had a running battle of sorts with the crowd during the match, with fans doing their utmost to cheer on local hope Royer and boo his legendary opponent.

At one point Djokovic appealed to the umpire, who asked the match official to intervene.

"They have no respect. No respect," he was heard saying on court.

Djokovic wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker then required four more match points in his final service game before a forehand from Royer landed in the net to conclude a long rally.

When it was finally over after 3 hours and 44 minutes, Djokovic first nearly stumbled to the clay. Then he performed his violin celebration, acting as if he were playing the strings on his racquet like the musical instrument.

Before arriving in Paris, Royer had earned only one tour-level win across 11 tournaments he played this season.

Djokovic came to Roland Garros with questions over his form after getting beat in his only clay-court match before the tournament. He lost to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open after two months out due to a right shoulder injury.

But Djokovic is playing himself back into form after coming back from a set down to beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, another Frenchman, in a first-round match that lasted nearly three hours.

Djokovic improved to 14-0 in his career against Frenchmen at Roland Garros and reached the third round in Paris for a 21st straight year. He raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

"Hopefully I won't face another Frenchman until the end of the tournament," Djokovic said with a laugh during his on-court interview. "Oh my God, I've had enough."

One duo of Djokovic fans inside the main stadium held up a sign with a goat on it — for "Greatest of All Time" — that read "39 is the new 29."

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Up next for Djokovic is potentially a bigger test against 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who came back from two sets down for a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the 20-year-old Prizmic. Fonseca has been touted as a future grand slam contender.

Elsewhere, Thanasi Kokkinakis was forced to pull out at the start of the third set of his second-round contest with Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday with a recurrence of the chronic right shoulder problem he has endured.

The match ended 7-5, 4-6, 0-1 with question marks around his future.

Australian James Duckworth also bowed out after taking a set off Spanish star Rafael Jodar, going down 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5.

And Elena Rybakina, this year's Australian Open winner, was beaten by Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).