Djokovic: "My father has been trying to get me to retire for a while"

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Although parts of the interview were released in early January, Novak Djokovic headlines the publication's international edition for the month of February, already knowing how his adventure at the 2025 Australian Open ends. In this intriguing conversation, the Serbian player opens up like never before about retirement, a topic he doesn't usually delve into during tournaments, making it clear that it's something he contemplates.

"When it comes to food, I am quite religious. I like things to be clean and freshly prepared. I'm not very adventurous, especially during a tournament," he confesses in an interview with GQ Sports, Novak who has previously expressed, including in his book, how rigorous he is with his diet.

Has the tennis game passed you by?

"(Laughs). Yes and no. I hope to achieve many more things as a veteran in the sport, improve players' rights, or continue developing my own business projects. Tennis remains my most significant megaphone to the world. If you look at it solely from the perspective of achieving goals and the game itself... then I suppose yes."

"I feel like people are already writing my tennis obituary. The media, the fans... and I don't know if he'll like me saying this, but I'll say it anyway: the first one doing it is my father. My father has been trying to get me to retire for some time, but he hasn't been insistent. He respects my decision to move forward and, of course, understands why I want to continue, but he says to me: 'What else do you want to do?' He understands the amount and intensity of the pressure and tension out there, and the stress that affects my health, my body, and consequently, everyone around me, including him. That's why he told me: 'My son, start thinking about how you want to end this'."

His confession about retirement

"I'm thinking about how I want to retire and when I want to retire. Or rather, I think more about the how than the when. I'm not thinking intensively about the when yet. How would I like to finish it? I feel that if I start losing more and feel that there is a bigger gap, that I start having more trouble overcoming those major obstacles in the Grand Slams, then I will probably call it quits, but right now, I'm doing well, I continue...

To keep going, I have to reduce the number of tournaments I play and focus only on a few. I don't think I'll play only four Slams and the Davis Cup. I think I'll play at least one or two preparation tournaments before the Slams, especially on clay courts," says Nole, who wanted to continue after winning the Olympic gold: "Many people, both in public and private, have told me they believe it's better to leave at the top, which I understand, but if I'm still physically capable and still feel I can beat the best players in the world at Grand Slams, why would I want to quit now?".

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Djokovic: "Mi padre lleva intentando que me retire desde hace tiempo"