"Definitely at least one more time": Novak Djokovic eyes Wimbledon return in 2026 despite thumping defeat to Jannik Sinner

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has stated that he is looking to play at Wimbledon next year. The 38-year-old suffered a straight sets defeat to Italy’s Jannik Sinner with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday.

It will be the first time in seven years that Djokovic will not appear in the Wimbledon final. After the defeat, Djokovic looked exhausted and thanked the fans for their support throughout the match. That reaction sparked debate about whether it was the last time Djokovic featured in the mega-event. Talking after the match, Djokovic confirmed that he is not thinking about retiring from the sport just yet and is looking forward to returning to Wimbledon next year.

"I would be sad, but hopefully it's not my last match on the Centre Court," said Djokovic. "I'm not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. So I'm planning to come back, definitely at least one more time, to play on Centre Court. I'm so fresh off the court, it's hard to put things in a larger perspective and say what the plan is for the next few months or a year. I've put everything I possibly can when it comes to training and preparing myself, so I can play my best at Grand Slams. I think, regardless of the fact that I haven't won a Grand Slam this year, or last year, I still feel like I continue to play my best tennis at Grand Slams. Those are the tournaments that I care about at this stage of my career the most.”

Djokovic also went on to explain that he is looking to ‘revisit’ his plans after suffering a thumping defeat. "I probably have to revisit everything and see with my team, with my family, how I want to proceed with my schedule and where I want to peak and how I want to train,” he said. "I don't know what I can do differently, to be honest, because the amount of hours that I spend on a daily basis to take care of myself, I'd like to challenge everyone who is out there on the tour to see if anybody takes care of themselves more than me. And I, unfortunately, don't get rewarded for that right now, with injuries at the later stages of slams. But I was rewarded for many, many years."