Novak Djokovic exposed for ‘nasty behaviour’ as ex-hitting partner opens can of worms on Serbian’s off-court personality

French tennis player Jules Marie, who has worked with Novak Djokovic as his hitting partner in the past, recently made some sensational accusations.

Novak Djokovic in the past has been criticised for his aggressive behaviour, both towards opponents and to members of his own coaching staff. There have been instances during matches when his coaching staff have faced the brunt of his multiple meltdowns.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia shows his dejection against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in their second round match during the BNP Paribas Open.(Getty Images via AFP)

French tennis player Jules Marie, who has worked with Djokovic as his hitting partner in the past, recently made some sensational accusations about the Serbian tennis ace.

‘He was nasty all five times’: Jules Marie on Novak Djokovic

Speaking via the Daily Express, he said, “When I was a sparring partner at Roland Garros, I played five times with Djokovic, and he was nasty all five times.”

“You play on the edge with him. If you hit a ball 1.5m away from him, he doesn’t play it and looks at you like, ‘If you do it again, I'll kick you out’.’ At one point, I served a ball, and he didn't play it. He says to me, 'It's my coach who is supposed to serve.' So his coach serves, I hit the ball back, and he sends the ball 50 metres high. I don't know why (...) Not nice at all.”

Marie also pointed out that Djokovic’s change in behaviour when they met at the following year’s Australian Open, where he wasn’t his training partner anymore. “On the other hand, at the Australian Open, I was no longer a sparring partner; I was a player. So it was different, and he knew about my YouTube channel. Plus, we were filmed, there were cameras, so he couldn't be nasty,” he said.

Marie is popular on Youtube, in fact his popularity on the video platform is more than his tennis following. He has 130,000 subscribers. Djokovic will hope to not pay attention to Marie's words, and will also expect that it doesn’t receive more attention. The Serbian is set to compete at the 2025 Miami Open, after his shocking first round exit at Indian Wells.