Coach Patrick Mouratoglou wasn’t thrilled to see Novak Djokovic booed as he walked onto court for his French Open round of 16 match against Diego Schwartzman. As Djokovic made his way through the crowd, some in attendance decided to boo the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
The booing did not have a negative impact on Djokovic, as the Serb crushed Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals. Mouratoglou is an analyst for France Info during the French Open and there he offered his opinion on the situation.
“It makes no sense to whistle Djokovic. If you don’t like it, you have the right not to come, it’s allowed. But when we come to watch the match, we have to appreciate these exceptional sportsmen, the show they give us and cheer them on.
It’s the minimum,” Mouratoglou said of Djokovic, according to Mario Boccardi. Mouratoglou, who has worked with Halep since April, had hoped to guide the Romanian to her third Grand Slam title this fortnight. Unfortunately for both Mouratoglou and Halep, that did not happen, as the Romanian suffered a shock second-round loss to Zheng Qinwen.
After the two early losses in Rome and Roland Garros, Mouratoglou took responsibility, apologized and promised to improve. “I have always been proud of my successes with my players, but I also have to acknowledge when I am not doing a good enough job,” Mouratoglou wrote on Facebook.
Jimmy Arias speaks about Djokovic
Former ATP player Jimmy Arias is of the opinion that Novak Djokovic is starting to crack under the pressure of making history. “I think Novak [Djokovic] is cracking a little bit. It started with the US Open last year, I know he made the finals, but that whole tournament he was cracking.
It shows how much he is thinking about history,” Arias said. “The only reason he was cracking was because he was thinking of the Calendar Grand Slam and if you remember that tournament, he was losing the first set every match.”
While Jimmy Arias made it clear that he does not write off the Serb’s chances of winning more Slams, he was of the opinion that it would be more difficult in the coming days. “Then he had the strange start to the year with the Australian Open and everything that went on, and I just feel like maybe his days of locking down under extreme pressure will be difficult to find,” Arias said. “I am not saying he won’t win Majors again, but it will be more difficult.”
