Novak Djokovic has asked a pair of fans for an invitation to their wedding after a man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend during the Serbian’s first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday.
Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, saw the proposal during a break in play and gave the couple the thumbs-up before telling them: ‘I want an invitation to the wedding.’
The couple gave him the thumbs-up back from the stands.
The incident has since gone viral, attracting tens of thousands of views online.
‘He is such a sweet man,’ one person wrote on Wimbledon’s official Instagram post.
‘I hope he gets one and goes, it would be awesome,’ another said.
Novak Djokovic gave two fans the thumbs up after a marriage proposal during his first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday
The couple responded to Djokovic’s request for an invitation to their wedding
‘Djokovic asking for a wedding invite is peak Novak,’ a third person wrote.
Not all fans were complimentary of the couple, with some suggesting the man could have proposed in a more private way without taking attention away from the match.
‘The weird couple making the match about them… arrogant and narcissistic,’ one person wrote.
‘Always seeking for attention,’ another person wrote.
‘Forget them, concentrate on the match,’ a third person wrote.
Wedding proposals are common at big sporting events.
A memorable incident involving Steffi Graf occurred in 1996, five years before she married Andre Agassi.
She was proposed to by a fan at Wimbledon, to which she asked: ‘How much money do you have?’
The 24-time Grand Slam winner had a running battle with the crowd during his first-round win
Sir David Beckham watched on as Djokovic won through to the second round
Djokovic was tested by China’s Wu Yibing, before winning in four sets
Djokovic himself had a marriage proposal from a fan at the 2025 Australian Open.
The fan yelled out ‘marry me, Novak’ to which he replied: ‘Sorry, mate, I have a wife. We can have a drink, though.’
Djokovic has been married to Jelena since 2014, with whom he has two children, Stefan and Tara.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion beat China’s Wu Yibing in the first round 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to set up an encounter with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
After the match, which was watched by Sir David Beckham, Djokovic was interviewed on Centre Court and said it ‘didn’t feel like a first-round match’.
‘It felt really challenging for me today. Wu deserves a huge round of applause for his performance,’ he said.
‘He put me under a lot of pressure, I never faced him before, I knew he loves hitting the ball flat and aggressively from the back of the court, but he definitely surprised me with the level of every shot in his game. At some point, he didn’t have a weakness.
‘It’s lucky he missed that overhead on break point, I probably should have lost that fourth set, he had lots of break points. On this surface, this kind of match is decided in a few shots and thankfully I have experience of the last 20-plus years.’
Djokovic was booed as he played an imaginary violin with his racquet at the end of the match as Wu left to an ear-splitting ovation.
The Grand Slam legend, 39, is trying to become the oldest Wimbledon men’s singles champion since the Open era began in 1968. Roger Federer was 35 when he defeated Marin Cilic in straight sets in 2017.
