World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz defeated 37-year-old Novak Djokovic earlier this month in the Wimbledon final. Djokovic will turn 37 in May of next year.
Srdjan Djokovic, the father of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, expressed his desire to see his son give from the game after the 2024 season. He continued by saying that it was time to relish the coming phase of his life. The 36-year-old, who is the male player with the most grand slam victories (23), recently fell to world no. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. The Serb, who will turn 37 next year, sought a Grand Slam record 24th victory. With this, he would have tied Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam victories by a single player.
“As far as my wishes for him are concerned, he fulfilled them all seven-eight years ago. The rest is this amazing bonus,” Srdjan told Tennis Majors in Sportal’s documentary titled ‘Novak Djokovic – Untold Stories’.
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“And for Novak to slowly but surely… It’s not the end, but in a year-and-a-half let’s say… My wish as a father – I think he should have stopped working this extremely difficult job. It’s physically and mentally challenging and very demanding – with him being fully dedicated for 30 years, and not taking his foot off the gas, there is not much time for other things in life,” he added.
However, Srdjan Djokovic feels tennis isn’t his career. It’s now time for the rising crop of players to grab centre stage.
“Tennis is only one segment of his life, not his whole life. I expect him to be recognized for his work after his career is over after he leaves the tennis world. This I hope will happen next year,” Djokovic senior added.
His mother, Dijana, however, said Novak would play for another year or two. However, at the end of the day, it will be his choice whether to continue or not after that. It’s up to him. As far as I’m concerned, he can retire right away – he’s won everything.”
