Serbia’s legendary tennis star, Novak Djokovic, has revealed that he has no timeline for retiring from professional tennis. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic has gone through a difficult 2024 season. Things went from bad to worse during the second Grand Slam of the year — the French Open — where he suffered a knee injury during the fourth-round clash, during which the match stretched to five sets against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. That injury forced him to withdraw just before the start of the quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Ruud. After that injury, Djokovic had to undergo knee surgery, which put him in doubt about participating in mega events such as Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics.
Despite that injury and surgery, Djokovic not only returned to the court but arguably played the best tennis of the season in the recently concluded Wimbledon 2024, where he finished as the runner-up after losing to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. The Belgrade-born star was later quoted in a report highlighting that he has no timeline to retire from the sport. The 24-time Grand Slam winner stated that he loves playing at Wimbledon and is looking forward to returning to the famous court next year as well.
“I love you guys, let's keep going,” he said. “As far as coming back here, I mean, I would love to,” he said. “I don't have anything else in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon. I really want to play at least whatever. I don't have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.”
Every time I walk on to Centre Court, I am filled with such gratitude that I am living out my childhood dream. Thank you to my entire team, partners, family, friends and #nolefam for all of your support throughout the last few weeks. Onwards. Felicidades, @carlosalcaraz. Well…
