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 now back at the Shanghai Masters for the first time in five years. And he addressed what he would do after hanging up his racket.
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.
Djokovic has yet to commit to the last Masters 1000 event of the season in Paris. And he is currently outside the cut-off to qualify for the ATP Finals, having failed to earn enough ranking points so far this year.
Last month, the Olympic champion confessed that these tournaments weren’t 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 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.”
If the Shanghai Masters is Djokovic’s last appearance in 2024, he’s taking it seriously. The world No. 4 is hoping to win a milestone 100th title. He will open his campaign against either Alex Michelson or Bu Yunchaokete.
