Djokovic comes clean about retiring next year

• Novak Djokovic has contradicted his father Srdjan Djokovic about his retirement in 2024
• Djokovic said that with the kind of energy he has at 36, he is not about to bow out of tennis
• He will be playing at the US Open 2023 after missing action for two years

Novak Djokovic has contradicted his father Srdjan Djokovic about his retirement in 2024.

Speaking on US soil, Djokovic said that with the kind of energy he has at 36, he is not about to bow out of tennis.

He said that his secret to staying put in tennis and winning lies in his motivation which is the only thing pushing him to keep playing.

Now, all he wants is to keep playing and winning tournaments.

“If I weren’t motivated, I would stop playing. It’s exciting that after almost 20 years on Tour, to keep that inner fire that drives me to fight for big goals. I want to keep winning tournaments,” reports Tennis365.

At 36, his injuries are taking longer to heal unlike in his 20s when he healed fast and he admits to this reality.

Novak Djokovic. Photo/CNN

This is the main reason some quarters, including his father, feel that his time has come to exit from the sport.

Srdjan in July expressed his hope for his son’s retirement in 2024. He said that he is a proud father seeing that his son has fulfilled all his wishes in tennis and in life.

Srdjan who has been at the centre of his son’s career says that Djokovic fulfilled a set of seven wishes he had eight years ago.

Djokovic has dominated the sport in recent years, breaking the mark for the most Grand Slams won by a man in the Open Era and setting a record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 with 389 weeks.

Despite his 23 Grand Slams so far, the Serbian is not thinking about retiring. He said in the past that he still has several other goals to achieve in tennis before he chooses to retire.

But, his father opines that tennis is physically and intellectually taxing which is why he is convinced that Djokovic’s retirement is coming up.

Novak Djokovic Photo/EuroSport

Srdjan in Sportal’s NOVAK Untold Stories documentary notes that his wish was for Djokovic to retire a few years ago.

He is surprised that 30 years after Djokovic started out in tennis, he is not willing to step off the court and head out for retirement.

“It is my wish as a father, that is, I thought that he should have stopped playing a long time ago in this terribly difficult job,” Srdjan said.

“This is not a sport, this is terribly hard work, in every way, both physically and mentally. Because he still has very little of life because he is maximally dedicated to this job, it’s been 30 years and he doesn’t give up on it even a bit.”

Now playing at 36 is just a bonus and Srdjan’s general feeling is that people will know Djokovic better by the activities he takes on after his retirement which he is hopeful will be in 2024.