Novak Djokovic played a practical joke on a ball girl during his second-round match at Wimbledon on Wednesday, 1 July 2026. The 39-year-old Serbian tennis star, leading comfortably against Stefanos Tsitsipas, asked the girl to cut a piece of tape from his shoulder and then screamed in pretended pain as she did so.
The ball girl recoiled in shock before realizing Djokovic was laughing. She then smiled as the seven-time Wimbledon champion apologized for the scare. “This is what happens when you have a 2-0 lead in sets,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory. “I’m sorry if I scared the ball girl. I was just trying to have some fun. It might not have been a great joke.”
The moment was captured on video and shared by the Wimbledon account on social media, with the caption: “There’s a reason they call him the Djoker.” Djokovic advanced to the third round, where he will face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
