Novak Djokovic shares tennis retirement plan after threatening to skip tournaments
Novak Djokovic has shed light on his retirement plans after confessing that he was “done” with some high-profile tournaments.
The world No. 4 has had an unusual season so far – his only title win was the one he always wanted, an Olympic gold medal. But he has also suffered several disappointing early exits.
Djokovic is back in action for the first time since he represented Serbia at last month’s Davis Cup. Before that, he suffered his worst Grand Slam result in seven years, crashing out in the third round of the US Open.
The 37-year-old has played a relatively limited schedule in 2024 but he is now making his first appearance in Shanghai since 2019. Asked to describe his love for tennis at this point in his career, Djokovic turned his attention to his eventual post-playing career.
“My love for tennis will never fade away. I have a lot of emotions when I’m playing, and not particularly only in the tournament, but also practice sessions,” he replied.
“Sometimes it’s not always going your way, but I think my relationship with tennis goes much deeper than a tournament or a year or success or failure, it’s just, you know, a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young, and I still have the love for the sport.”
While Djokovic still loves the sport, he already seems to be thinking about his retirement. But the 24-time Grand Slam champion promised to stick around.
He added: “Even when I retire from professional tennis, I feel like I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in, you know, in different roles, because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been giving to me.”
Despite his passion for tennis, the Serb has been pulling back on his schedule. The Shanghai Masters is the only tournament he has committed to for the rest of 2024.