Novak Djokovic was ominous about his future after suffering a straight-set defeat in the Shanghai Masters final.
It was only his third appearance in a championship match this season. But the 37-year-old was no match for world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who won 7-6(4) 6-3.
Afterwards, Djokovic couldn’t give any concrete answers about his short and long-term futures beyond next week’s Saudi Arabia exhibition.
It’s been an unusual season for the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Djokovic has suffered some uncharacteristic early exits to significantly lower-ranked players at the biggest tournaments. But he also won the one thing that always evaded him – an Olympic gold medal.
The world No. 4 looked good in Shanghai, playing arguably some of his best tennis of 2024. However, Sinner overpowered him on Sunday, doing to Djokovic what Djokovic has been doing to the rest of the tour for years.
The future is now uncertain for the 37-year-old as the gap between him and the top young players starts to widen. He has entered the Paris Masters and could qualify for the ATP Finals but has not committed to either tournament.
Addressing his upcoming plans, Djokovic was also vague about how long he’d keep competing altogether. The world No. 4 was encouraged by his ability to play alongside the top guys, though he questioned how long it would last.
“He deserved to win, he was just too strong in important moments,” Djokovic said of his opponent. “But, nevertheless, I still think that even in the finals today I played pretty good, so, which, you know, gives me, I guess, reason to believe that I can still play with these guys that are best in the world at this level. Hopefully I can maintain that level in the upcoming months, and also for the future.”
The 37-year-old also confirmed his intentions to keep competing into 2025, explaining what kept him going. He continued: “My main motivation comes from love and passion for the sport, and also the desire to keep competing.
“These are kind of the matches and challenges that I still strive for, to be in a position to play against the best players in the world, on the biggest stage, in the finals of some of the biggest tournaments in the world.
“So, you know, that’s what I work for and why I still keep on pushing myself. Yeah, I mean, that’s all that can be said about that. I don’t know what future brings, I’ll just, you know, try to kind of go with the flow to see how I feel in a given moment. I still plan to compete and play next season and, yeah, let’s see how far I go.”
As Djokovic remains motivated by his ability to compete at the top of the game, he’s no longer spurred on by the records. The Serb was bidding to win his 100th title in Shanghai on Sunday but he won’t lose any sleep if he never gets to the milestone figure.
He explained: “Well, I mean, that’s a bonus, you know, if that can happen. I mean, I definitely wish it to happen today, but it wasn’t meant to be. I mean, I got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future, hopefully.
“And, yeah, I mean, it’s not live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I’ve achieved all of my biggest goals in career. Right now it’s really about slams and about, you know, still seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself.
“Yeah, as long as I perform the way I performed actually this week, and I think I can go toe-to-toe with the big guys, yeah, as long as that’s the case, I guess I’ll still feel the need to keep on competing, and motivation to be out there, and let’s see how long that’s going to last for.”
