"I challenge Serena to come back on tour next year": Novak Djokovic's ultimate call out to Serena Williams after opening US Open account

Novak Djokovic ended his first US Open press conference of 2025 by throwing down a playful challenge to Serena Williams — urging the 23-time major champion to come out of retirement and rejoin the tour.

“I invite her, I challenge her,” Djokovic said with a grin in his press conference. “She’s such a great competitor, and when somebody challenges her, she never refuses. So I challenge Serena to come back on tour next year.” The US Open comment followed a question about Williams’ surprise appearance at Maria Sharapova’s Hall of Fame induction, where she introduced her former rival in a moment that Djokovic called both surprising and moving.

“It was a very nice gesture from Serena to be there for Maria,” he reflected. “They had an intense rivalry and incredible matches over the years. But as Serena explained beautifully in her speech, people thought they were miles apart in their differences, but actually they were very much the same — they wanted the same thing and competed on the same tour for so many years.

“It was a wonderful moment. Maria deserves it — she’s an incredible champion and also an icon off the court with her brand and everything she’s built. And of course, seeing Serena in any way around tennis is great. We miss her.”

On court, Djokovic admitted his performance was uneven despite a straight-sets win over his young American opponent. “I started great. Just over 20 minutes, first set, I felt really good,” he said. “Then some long games to start the second set, and I don’t know why, but I was really surprised how bad I was feeling physically in that set.

“We had long exchanges, but I also dropped my level, made a lot of unforced errors, and kind of got him back into the match. I’m glad I reset myself after the second set. The third was okay to finish the match.”

Still, Djokovic confessed that the way he felt in the second set was “slightly a concern.” “I don’t have any injury or anything,” he explained. “I just struggled a lot to stay in long exchanges and to recover after points. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again, because it makes my life on court much more challenging. The good thing is I now have two days off.”

Djokovic pointed to several possible reasons for his physical dip: the atmosphere of a night match in New York, the long break from competition, and the tension of facing a local favorite. “It was quite a bit of tension on the court — playing a young American in a night session,” he said. “I hadn’t played an official match in six weeks. I had to deliver my A-game, which I think I did in the first set and particularly in the third. The second was just surviving.

“In the important moments I managed to put one more ball in the court than he did. It was also good to experience that, in a sense, to kind of break the ice officially in the tournament. So I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”

Asked whether a visible blister on his foot played a role in his struggles, Djokovic dismissed the idea. “I wasn’t talking about the blister when I mentioned my struggles,” he clarified. “It was more just physical struggle on the court in the second set. The blister bothered me for a bit, but it wasn’t any issue. I’m not concerned about blisters. It was more about the recovery after long rallies. That wasn’t great today.”

There was also time for lighter topics, as Djokovic was asked about his well-known love of languages after WTA player Anna Blinkova revealed she speaks seven.

“I have competition on tour now!” he laughed. “I don’t know the exact number. What do you consider speaking a language? I’m not fluent in several, but I can speak them enough to communicate and find my way in countries. So maybe somewhere close to that as well.

“I’ve always had a passion for languages and linguistics. In my language there’s a saying: the more languages you know, the more you are worth. People respect you more when you make the effort to speak their language. I love that.”

Djokovic added that he hopes to expand his repertoire in the coming years. “I want to learn Greek, Russian, maybe perfect my Spanish a bit more. The tour gives you that chance — you interact with people from different countries and different languages all the time. If they allow you to speak and practice with them, it’s great.

“Credit to Blinkova — amazing. I didn’t know she spoke seven. Tennis is one of the most versatile sports in terms of languages because it’s so global.”

Djokovic’s first official match in six weeks may not have been flawless, but he came through in straight sets, found rhythm in the key moments, and now has valuable time to recover. “There are positives, but also things I hope won’t happen again,” he admitted. “The second set was tough physically, but overall it was good to get through it.”