Novak Djokovic knows he hasn’t got long left playing among tennis’ elite – but he can’t see himself walking away from the game when he retires.
The current world No.4, now 37, has had an up-and-down 2024, with his only major triumph coming at the Olympics, the Serb finally winning the gold medal that had for so long eluded him. But there have also been an unusual number of early exits.
Now back at the Shanghai Masters for the first time in five years, and back in action for the first time since he represented Serbia at last month’s Davis Cup, Djokovic admits the fire still burns – even if he can’t commit to a schedule as hectic as during his younger days.
“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 insists.
“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.”
And don’t expect to see the 24-time Grand Slam champion go quietly into the night when he puts his racket away.
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.”
The Shanghai Masters – where he could remarkably win his 100th title – is the only tournament he has committed to for the rest of 2024. Djokovic hasn’t confirmed whether he will appear at the last Masters 1000 event of the season, in Paris. And if he doesn’t then it may well be the end of his year, as a lack of ranking points this year means he could miss out on the ATP Finals.
It comes after he confessed last month that the Masters tournaments were no longer a priority for him, as he threatened to seriously cull his schedule.
“Usually in my career I used to have my schedule ready six months in advance, but nowadays that’s not the case,” he explained. “Now it’s more spontaneous. Firstly, I need to physically, emotionally and mentally rest in order to even start thinking what I want to do next, in what way, how much and where.”
Addressing the ATP Finals, which will take place in Turin, he added: “Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest. I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings. As far as I’m concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play others this year or in the future, I can’t say right now.
“My main priorities are playing for the national team and Slams. Everything else is less important. I said a million times how much it means to play for the national team.”
Mirror
