Tennis star Novak Djokovic revived his victory dance and challenged world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to continue their playful dance-off ritual After his comeback win over France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at Roland Garros 2026, tennis star Novak Djokovic revived his victory dance and challenged world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to continue their playful dance-off ritualAfter his comeback win over France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at Roland Garros 2026, tennis star Novak Djokovic revived his victory dance (Photo: AFP)The victory danceFollowing his 102nd win at Roland Garros in France, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic broke into a celebratory dance on the clay. Later, he also did a ‘battle dance’ on the stadium stairs (see below right), and challenged Belarusian tennis star and women’s world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka: “You can’t beat that, Aryna. I challenge you.” They are known for their playful off-court friendship and regularly feature in each other’s social media clips.How it startedThe stair-dancing is a continuation of a viral trend they started at Roland Garros 2025. During the tournament, Novak had playfully imitated Aryna’s victory pose. She quickly fired back, dancing down the stairs after her quarterfinal win and challenging him to match her moves. The two then alternated celebration dances round-by-round on social media throughout the tournament, turning it into one of the most talked-about off-court moments.The ‘DJoker’ side of NovakLong before becoming a 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak was nicknamed Djoker (The Joker) for his theatrical antics and comic timing on court. While he evolved into one of tennis’ fiercest competitors, he continues to lean into the entertainer side of his personality. In 2025, Novak performed the viral ‘Soda Pop’ dance in the stadium as a surprise for daughter Tara after missing her birthday celebration back home.Aryna is Novak’s daughter’s favouriteNovak has earlier shared that daughter Tara is a huge Aryna Sabalenka fan. In an old interview, he joked, “Sabalenka is her favourite. She only cares about Aryna.” He added that Tara keeps asking to visit Aryna’s house because “she has a fridge full of açaí”: “She’s not too interested in tennis itself; it’s all about whether she can get some more of that açaí.”Sanchita Kalra writes on events, weddings, pop-culture, health, food, and travel for the Daily Entertainment and Lifestyle for supplement, HT City.