"I've achieved all of my biggest goals in career": All about Grand Slams now for Novak Djokovic

At the age of 37, Novak Djokovic was unable to beat Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters 2024. The Serb was simply outclassed by the overwhelming level of the world No. 1, who defeated him 7-6, 6-3.

Speaking after the final, Djokovic is aware that he will be 38 years old next year, and that he has to be even more selective about the tournaments he will play. The world No. 4 reveals that he will focus solely on Grand Slams in 2025.

“Well, I think there's quite a few positives that I can take. First of all, I think the level of my tennis was really good this tournament, probably best after Olympic games in terms of how I played, how I performed, how I fought," said Djokovic.

"I did my best tonight. Under the circumstances, you know, I felt maybe not a hundred percent fresh, but at the same time big credit to Jannik for playing the big points better than me, and that's what made the difference. He deserved to win, he was just too strong in important moments. But, nevertheless, I still think that even in the finals today I played pretty good, so, which, you know, gives me, I guess, reason to believe that I can still play with these guys that are best in the world at this level. Hopefully I can maintain that level in the upcoming months, & also for the future.”

He also admitted that it's no longer do or die anymore in terms of winning titles and Grand Slams. “Well, I mean, that's a bonus, you know, if that can happen. I mean, I definitely wish it to happen today, but it wasn't meant to be. I mean, I got to keep striving to make it happen somewhere in the near future, hopefully. And, yeah, I mean, it's not live-or-die type of goal for me, I think I've achieved all of my biggest goals in career. Right now it's really about slams and about, you know, still seeing how far I can kind of push the bar for myself.

"Yeah, as long as I perform the way I performed actually this week, and I think I can go toe-to-toe with the big guys, yeah, as long as that's the case, I guess I'll still feel the need to keep on competing, and motivation to be out there, and let's see how long that's going to last for.”

Finally, Novak Djokovic surrenders to the level of Jannik Sinner, who has added his 7th title in 2024: "All around, you know, every shot he's got in the game. He's improved his serve tremendously, I think that became a big weapon. He's just very aggressive from the baseline, as soon as he's got a shorter ball, he's taking the initiative. Just very solid from forehand and backhand, doesn't make too many mistakes, and just tries to take away the time from the opponent.

"You know, that's something that reminds me of myself throughout my career, that's what l've done for so many years consistently, you know, playing fast-paced tennis, taking away time from the opponent, kind of suffocating the opponent, if you want, in a certain way. That's what you want, you want your opponents always to feel under pressure from your shots, from your speed, from your presence on the court. So he's got that, I mean, this year he's been so consistent, it's really, really impressive.”