Novak Djokovic has reminded the tennis world that he isn’t going anywhere despite ending his 2024 season early.
After an uncharacteristic year of disappointing losses, the world No. 5 made some ominous comments about his future after his last official outing on the tour at the Shanghai Masters.
But Djokovic has now shut down any retirement chatter with a defiant statement, admitting that he’s going “full throttle” in hopes of having a good 2025.
It’s been an unusual season for the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Although he won the one title he’d always wanted – an Olympic gold medal – his other results were largely underwhelming.
Djokovic only reached two other finals in Wimbledon and Shanghai but lost both. He also suffered early exits at big tournaments like the US Open, Indian Wells and the Italian Open.
He raised alarm bells after his Shanghai Masters defeat to Jannik Sinner last month, admitting he would keep competing so long as he felt he could go toe-to-toe with top players and adding: “Let’s see how long that’s going to last for.”
Barring an outing at the Six Kings Slam exhibition, Djokovic has not played since. He ended his season early by pulling out of the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, and he did not enter the 2025 United Cup.
But he’s now confirmed that he’s as motivated as ever and already putting plans in place for next season. “Tennis is still my focus,” he told Sport Klub while attending the Crvena zvezda and Alba Berlin basketball game.
“I am going at full throttle in the off-season, we go for another ride. I just needed to recharge and refresh a bit after an exhausting year.”
Djokovic has often prioritised playing for his country so it raised eyebrows when Serbia was not entered into the United Cup – a mixed-gender team tournament that starts the season in Australia.
But the 99-time title winner is still planning to enter another warm-up tournament ahead of the Australian Open.
He added: “I am going to play in the first week of the season, I am just not sure yet where. Then, of course, Australian Open.”
And representing Serbia is still one of his primary concerns. “The Slams of course, and I would like to play the Davis Cup as well, we’ll see what happens with that,” he said, naming his goals.
Djokovic’s comments come after he pulled out of the ATP Finals citing an “ongoing injury”. His hopes of qualifying were put under threat when he skipped the recent Paris Masters but no other player was able to earn enough ranking points to overtake him.
The top eight men in the race make it to the year-end tournament and Djokovic qualified sixth but confirmed he would not be heating to Turin to defend his title.
It was expected – back in September, he said: “Torino [the ATP Finals] 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.”
