Novak Djokovic drops retirement hint during Indian Wells press conference: "Rafa and I are probably not going to play much more"

Novak Djokovic spoke to the media before the Indian Wells Open began and while he is seemingly not imminently going to retire from the sport, he admitted that it is coming for him and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic said that the realisation has to be there for both him and Nadal that the moment will come and very soon that they will hang up their racquets. The Spaniard in particular set a potential end date of 2024, but has left it fairly open especially given he has not played as much as he would've hoped during this season. He was due to play Australian Open, Qatar Open and in fact Indian Wells, but he had to withdraw from all three due to injury issues.

"So, we know those moments will come for all of us. You know, when they actually come and you actually understand that that’s it, Roger finished his career, Rafa and I are probably not going to play much more," he said during his pre-tournament press conference at the Indian Wells Masters 2024.

"It's a kind of one era to an end and it's sad but at the same time, I think there’s so many wonderful moments, matches, and milestones that we can celebrate when it comes to each one of us and us as a group."