“Addressing some of the issues”: Novak Djokovic shares hints regarding future plans after retirement from third-place playoff at Six Kings Slam

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has shared some of his plans in the future after retiring midway through the match at the Six Kings Slam. The exhibition event came to an end on Saturday, with the two matches being played.

In the third-place playoff, the 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic faced America’s Taylor Fritz. The match ended after the first set, where Fritz won with a score of 7-6. The reason behind the match ending after the set was Djokovic’s decision to retire because of a fitness concern.

In the other match of the day, which was the final, the world number two Jannik Sinner, for the second year in a row, defeated world number one Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. After the match, Djokovic apologised to the fans sitting in the arena for not being able to complete the match. Djokovic also hinted that he is still eager to play at least a ‘couple of tournaments’ before the end of the season.

“I want to apologise to everybody, sorry guys, I’m sorry you couldn’t see the second set,” said Djokovic. “But credit to Taylor, I mean, we had some incredible games towards the end of that set, and it was one of the longest sets I’ve ever played, to be honest. It was amazing to be in Riyadh once again. I want to thank everybody for really welcoming me here. This is the third time I have been here in three years, and hopefully, if I keep on going next year, I’ll be back, if you guys want me here. Now it’s rest and really addressing some of the issues I have with my body. Then hopefully playing the last couple of tournaments of the season, let’s see.”

Djokovic’s retirement on Saturday raised concerns about his fitness as this was not the first time he was forced to concede a match because of health concerns this year. Earlier this year, Djokovic was forced to retire from the semifinal of the Australian Open against Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Later, Djokovic struggled with fitness issues in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon. On both occasions, he faced the then world number one Sinner, who came out on top in straight sets. At the French Open, the final score was 6-4, 7-5, 7-6, whereas at Wimbledon, the match ending score was 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Despite having so many fitness concerns, Djokovic has had an impressive season. He has featured in 41 matches across different events and won 31 of them, suffering just 10 defeats in the process. Other than Sinner, Djokovic was the only player in 2025 who featured in the semifinal of every Grand Slam.

His most recent appearance in the semifinal of a major event was at the US Open, where Spain’s Alcaraz came out on top against him in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. Djokovic’s most recent appearance in an official tournament came at the Shanghai Masters, where he suffered a shocking defeat to Poland’s Valentin Vacherot with a score of 6-3, 6-4.

In the midst of all of this, Djokovic did manage to win one event as well, which was the Geneva Open in May earlier this year, where he defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the final with a score of 5-7, 7-6, 7-6. It was Djokovic’s 100th title at the highest level, which makes him the third player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era to win 100 or more titles at the highest level. The other two players to achieve similar feats were the former world number ones, America’s Jimmy Connors, who won 109 titles in his career and Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who finished his career with 103 titles.