"He must be thinking now that he should finish": Ivanisevic's ex-coach says Novak Djokovic will only play on the ATP Tour for another 2 years

Monday, 21 August 2023 at 10:03

Former Serbian tennis player Radmilo Armenulic, who has worked with Novak Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic in the past, has predicted that the tennis legend will only play for two more years on the ATP Tour.

23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has appeared to show no signs of slowing down for most of this season, even as his fellow members of the Big Three Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal move into or toward retirement. The 36-year-old has won two out of three Grand Slams so far this year at the Australian Open and the Roland Garros.

However, some fans began to become concerned after he failed to defend his Wimbledon title, losing to 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set thriller of a final. Nevertheless, Djokovic still seems very much on form, having reached the finals of the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open this week, but Armenulic still thinks the player will retire in a couple of years.

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Armenulic says Djokovic will 'judge' when to retire

Speaking to Informer.rs, Armenulic expressed his hope that Djokovic will know for himself when to retire and predicted this would come at some point in the next year or two.

"It's hard to end a career, I know," he said, "I hope he will feel for himself when he should end his career. Nadal is sure to finish because he has a problem with his hips, Federer is already retired, so only Novak remains from the three. He must be thinking now that he should finish, but I think he will play for another year or two."

Armenulic also added that he thinks his compatriot will lose motivation when younger plays start to win more of the tournaments that he has been dominating.

"He will judge for himself when he sees that he lacks 10 or 15 centimetres to reach the ball, that he no longer has the necessary shot moment... He will decide for himself and say, ‘I've played enough, I don't want to be chased around the field by kids and lose matches that I would normally win’ and make decisions," he continued.

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Macci thinks Djokovic will win US Open

Meanwhile, well-known coach Rick Macci, who has trained the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, has expressed a more optimistic point of view, saying that the Serb is the favorite to win at the upcoming US Open.

"@DjokerNole is the favorite at the US OPEN. His inner goat [greatest of all time] core took a shot across the net from Carlito [Carlos Alcaraz] at Wimby [Wimbledon]. But when the best of all time with 94 singles titles and 23 grand slams in his back pocket gets knocked down, even more Serbian goat determination will be found," Macci tweeted.

Rick Macci

@RickMacci

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@DjokerNole is the favorite at the U.S OPEN.His inner goat core took a shot across the net from Carlito at Wimby. But when the best of all time with 94 singles titles and 23 grand slams in his back pocket gets knocked Down even more Serbian goat determination will be Found.