‘I would be sad’: Djokovic gives best indication yet about retirement plans

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Former world No.1 Novak Djokovic has given the best indication yet that he will continue playing into next year, saying he plans to contest “at least” one more Wimbledon before retiring.

The 24-time grand slam champion’s bid to match Roger Federer’s record eight singles titles at the All England club will have to wait, after he lost 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to world No.1 Jannik Sinner in their semi-final on Friday. He has reached that stage at all three majors this year.

Novak Djokovic hopes this was not his final Wimbledon appearance.

There is constant speculation about when Djokovic will call time on a career that statistically towers over every other men’s tennis player in history, but the 38-year-old is apparently not ready to do that.

“I would be sad [if that was the end], but hopefully, it’s not my last match on the centre court,” Djokovic said.

“I’m not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today. I’m planning to come back definitely at least one more time, and play on the centre court, for sure.”

Djokovic limped to the end of a slam for the second time this year, after a left hamstring strain caused him to retire only one set into his Australian Open semi-final against Germany’s Alexander Zverev in January.

Against Sinner, he called for the trainer after the second set to have his left hip worked on, and his movement worsened in the final games of the match after he briefly staged a third-set rally to go 3-0 up.

That followed Djokovic suffering a nasty fall while sliding to hit a shot in the dying stages of his quarter-final win over another Italian, Flavio Cobolli, in the quarter-finals two days earlier.

Djokovic blamed his advanced age for his injury misfortune and said the recurring physical issues were “bothering” him.

“Right now, I’m so fresh off the court. It’s hard to put things in a larger perspective and say what the plan is for the next few months or a year,” he said.

Jannik Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets in their Wimbledon semi-final.

“I’ve put everything I possibly can when it comes to training and preparing myself, so I can play my best at grand slams. Regardless of the fact I haven’t won a grand slam this year, or last year; I still feel like I continue to play my best tennis at grand slams. Those are the tournaments that I care most about at this stage of my career.

“I probably have to revisit everything and see with my team, with my family, how I want to proceed with my schedule and where I want to peak and how I want to train.

“I’m just trying to make the maximum out of what I have left. Again, I just got off the court, so of course, I’m upset and disappointed, mostly not for the loss, because obviously even if I was fit, I wasn’t a favourite to win against Sinner. I know that, but I think I had good chances if I was fit.”

Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 major championships at Melbourne Park, and said after his retirement against Zverev that there was a “chance” it was his last Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic speaking to the media, following his defeat against Jannik Sinner.

“Who knows? I’ll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going, but whether I’m going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I’m not sure,” he said at the time.

“I normally like to come to Australia to play. I’ve had the biggest success in my career here. So, if I’m fit, healthy and motivated, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t come. But there’s always a chance [this was it].”

Djokovic made similar remarks after losing to Sinner in the Roland-Garros semi-finals last month, but they followed him giving a heartfelt goodbye to the Paris crowd as he walked from Court Philippe Chatrier.

On that occasion, he bent down to touch the clay before holding his hand to his heart and waving to the fans.

“This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don’t know. That’s why I was a bit more emotional even in the end,” Djokovic said in France.

“But if this was the farewell match of Roland-Garros for me in my career; it was a wonderful one, in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd. I don’t know really what tomorrow brings, in a way, at this point in my career.”