Novak Djokovic has admitted that his father has been trying to convince him to retire from tennis, and that he has even considered stepping away from the game himself.
The 37-year-old Serbian is the last out of the ‘big four’ to call it quits on his illustrious career following the retirements of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. However if Srdjan Djokovic had his way, Djokovic Jnr may have already hung up his racket.
Djokovic is now gearing up for the Australian Open where is gunning for a record breaking 25th major. Speaking ahead of the tournament, he opened up on his father’s wisdom and suggested that he has pondered what a retirement party for him could look like.
I don’t know if he’s going to be happy with me saying this,” Djokovic said to Forbes, “But my dad has been trying to retire me for a while now. He understands why I keep going, but he’s like: ‘What else do you want to do?'”
It’s believed that the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s dad is concerned about the toll the game takes on his son’s body and how it also impacts those closest to him. Nevertheless, it’s possible Srdjan could get his wish sooner rather than later after Djokovic conceded he had thought about calling it quits, with the star admitting he would like a farewell similar to Federer’s, which was centered around a major event while surrounded by his peers.
“I am thinking about how I want to end it and when I want to end it,” Djokovic said. “No, actually, I take that back. I think more about the ‘how’ than the ‘when.'”
However, he also said that as long as he feels he can compete for Slams, he will keep playing. “If I start to lose more and feel there’s a bigger gap, that I face more challenges in overcoming those big obstacles in Grand Slams, then I’ll probably call it a day,” he added.
His words echo the thoughts he had ahead of the Shanghai Masters last year. “My love for tennis will never fade away,” he said in October 2024. “I have a lot of emotions when I’m playing, and not particularly only in the tournament, but also practice sessions. 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 a sport that I fell in love with when I was very young and I still have the love for the sport. Even when I retire from professional tennis, I feel like I’m going to stay in tennis, stay involved in different roles because I feel like I owe this sport a lot for what it has been giving to me.”
While Srdjan would prefer his son to walk away from the sport, it seems he does have a plan in place for the eventuality. With properties in New York and Monaco, Djokovic Jnr and his family could settle anywhere in the world, yet Srdjan has revealed his son’s plan to return to his home city of Belgrade in Serbia.
“When Novak finishes his tennis career, he will live in his city Belgrade, his country Serbia,” he said. “I think there is no greater satisfaction, pride and success than your child spreading the glory of his people and his country all over the world.
Novak snapped up a three-bedroom penthouse in New Belgrade, overlooking Lake Pavlova, for £505k back in 2018. However before he thinks of stepping back and admiring the view, it’s apparent that he is fiercely focused on locking down his next major in Melbourne, a trophy that would take him beyond Margaret Court as the all-time major winner in the game.
But he could be looking at quite the challenge to do so. Djokovic opens against American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy on Monday, January 13 and could then play huge-serving American Reilly Opelka, the man that beat him in the third round at the recent Brisbane International.
After that, Djokovic could face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarters, Alexander Zverev in the semis and world no.1 Jannik Sinner in the final if he is to win the competition and go down as the greatest player in history.
