Novak Djokovic surprised parishioners at church after Cincy Open defeat

Novak Djokovic‘s stint in the Queen City might have been a short one, but he made the most of it, including attending Divine Liturgy at a small Cincinnati church.

A churchgoer, Dragan Petrovic, posted about Djokovic’s surprise visit to St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in College Hill in an Aug. 16 Facebook post.

According to the post, the 24-time Grand Slam champion drove himself to the church, just a day after he’d fallen to Argentina’s Thiago Tirante in a shocking upset Aug. 15 at the 2026 Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

“He lost the first round in the Cincinnati Open yesterday and today he went to Divine Liturgy at one of our smallest churches in America,” Petrovic wrote.

Father Andrej Pavlović, the parish priest at the church, also confirmed Djokovic’s attendance to the Sunday service, telling The Enquirer that parishioners were surprised, sharing the same sentimant as Petrovic’s post.

“The people were shocked and didn’t know what to say or do (especially didn’t want to interrupt him in prayer),” Petrovic’s post read, adding that Djokovic offered to take pictures after the service.

Djokovic’s return to the Cincinnati Open marked his first time back in the Queen City since beating Carlos Alcaraz in the tournament’s longest match ever (3 hours, 49 minutes) in the 2023 final. It was also his first appearance since falling to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semifinals last month. Djokovic appeared to struggle physically as the match crept toward the three-hour mark.The three-time Cincinnati Open champion said it was likely this year was his last at the tournament.

“I certainly hope so, but unfortunately, at this point it seems more likely that I won’t,” Djokovic said of whether he’d return to Mason. “However, we’ll see what the future holds

The Enquirer’s Shelby Dermer contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Novak Djokovic surprised parishioners at church after Cincy Open defeat