Novak Djokovic’s father reveals retirement wish for his son
Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, says his son has already fulfilled all his wishes and hopes the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s retirement date is not too far away.
Tennis great Djokovic has dominated the sport in recent years as he has broken the record for most Grand Slams won by a man in the Open Era while he also holds the milestone for most weeks spent at No 1 with 389 weeks.
Despite holding numerous records, the Serbian is not contemplating retirement as has made it clear that he wants to achieve several more milestones before calling it quits.
However, Srdjan says in his ideal world his son would have already retired as tennis is too physically and mentally draining.
“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,” he said on Sportal’s NOVAK Untold stories documentary.
“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.”
Djokovic Sr also added that he hopes his son will finally retire in 2024.
He added: “Novak fulfilled all my wishes seven or eight years ago. This rest is all bonus amazing. But that is not his whole life, tennis is only one segment of his life. He will only be recognised and known in the world by what he does after his career in tennis, from which he will leave, I hope, next year.”
Although on the wrong side of 30, as he turned 36 in May, Djokovic has made it clear that he is not ready to quit tennis just yet.
At Wimbledon – where he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz in the final – he joked that 36 is the new 26 and he is adamant that he will continue to play as long as he is enjoying the sport.
Before Wimbledon, Djokovic won the French Open to move to 23 Grand Slams – one ahead of Rafael Nadal.
Ahead of the tournament he also insisted that retirement is not on his mind, saying: “I won’t lie that I haven’t thought about retiring and what it would look like, but I still have gas in me. We’ll see how long it will take, I don’t have any date and a lot depends on the physical condition.
“What I was referring to when I said things weren’t the same, I was referring to how my body reacted. I recovered much faster, I have more difficulties and more pain and literally something happens on a weekly basis.
“It depends on everything, on the mentality, how much motivation I have because I have already achieved everything in sports. I think about it, but I don’t think about it all the time. I don’t like to look at age as a deciding factor, I look at my condition and whether I’m enjoying it.”
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