Djokovic admits struggling when talking about retirement
The Serb shared his thoughts in an interview about a potential retirement to spend more time with his family.
Novak Djokovic will be the biggest name at the Australian Open. The Belgrade-bred maestro is the current world No. 1 and the male player with the most Grand Slam tournaments won ever with 24.
Moreover, he has repeatedly admitted that the start of the tennis season is one of his favorite times of the year, as he loves the weather and the court conditions in Australia.
The only Big Three member that will play in Melbourne the player with the most titles in the Australian Open, with 10 titles, and he could make more history by lifting another trophy in Melbourne.
Besides that, Nole, at 36, is still in great shape. Although it might seem he’s past his prime, the truth is that he hasn’t slowed down, which will probably motivate him to try to keep winning more majors and become the gold medallist winner in the men’s singles category at the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
Tennis vs family, a tough ‘battle’ for Djokovic
Djokovic is aware that he has still plenty of tennis left to offer and that he can keep winning important titles if he sticks to his team’s work plans.
However, having to deal with so much time away from his family can take a toll, especially for someone who has been traveling around the world for so long and has been dealing with tight schedules for many seasons.
In a recent interview, Djokovic shared his thoughts on the possibility of retiring to spend more time with his family, although admitted that his love for tennis hasn’t let him quit the sport yet:
“To be honest, I’m kind of divided [on when to stop and where to play]. There’s always a part of me that is a young boy who just adores tennis and knows only about tennis and devoted his entire life to tennis and that boy still wants to keep going”.
“And then, on the other side, I’m the father of two children, and I’m away from my family, and every time I travel for an extended period it breaks my heart. So I’m always thinking about, how long should I play, how many tournaments should I play, is it worth it?” Djokovic said.
Will he play one more year, two, or maybe more? That’s a difficult question to answer, but for the time being, it seems clear that Djokovic still wants to accomplish more goals, like trying to win the four majors in a single season, overtake Jimmy Connors as the player with the most ATP tournaments won ever and won the gold medal in Paris.
“I’m still hungry, I still want to compete, I still can run for hours, thankfully, but it’s more of an emotional aspect. It’s more of like, ‘What is the priority?’ Tennis has been the priority for 30 years, and I don’t want to miss out on too many moments with my children,” he concluded.
Djokovic recently admitted that he will be ready to play in the Australian Open despite suffering a wrist injury during the United Cup game against Alex De Miñaur, who came out on top in straight sets.