Novak Djokovic: Over and Out?
After losing to Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros, the 38-year-old talked bluntly about his future—in English and Serbian.
Beyond the paywall for subscribers here, professionally translated quotes from the Serbian portion of Djokovic’s fascinating press conference, so please do subscribe!
PARIS, France — Moments after 38-year-old Novak Djokovic lost to Jannik Sinner for the fourth time in a row1 on Friday night in the French Open semifinals, he did something remarkable, poignant, and ominous.
Djokovic, who had held three set points in the third set but lost 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3), walked toward the middle of the court instead of making a defeated player’s typical beeline to the exit. He put his two bags down, and applauded and waved to the crowd with kisses, putting his hand over his heart, and spinning more than 360 degrees around to make sure he thanked everyone present. He then kissed his hand and touched the clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier as he walked off.
It was quite a dramatic scene, even before Roland Garros put it in slo-mo and set it to an orchestral score.
Djokovic appearing to bid adieu immediately reminded me of another moment, when another all-time great paused before exiting after a major semifinal loss to an emerging foe who was also ~15 years younger.
At the 2021 Australian Open, a 39-year-old Serena Williams lost in straight sets to Naomi Osaka in the semifinals, an opponent she similarly couldn’t crack.
Serena, who normally made haste for the nearest exit after a defeat with nary a second glance, instead paused on her way out of Rod Laver Arena and waved to the crowd on all sides.
“I don't know,” Serena said of her unusual gesture in her post match press conference. “The Aussie crowd is so amazing, so it was nice to see.”
“Some people wondered if you were almost saying farewell,” Karen Crouse of The New York Times followed up with Serena.
“I don't know,” Serena said again. “If I ever say farewell, I wouldn't tell anyone.”
Midway through the next question, Serena began to tear up, and left the podium before answering she could answer anything else.
Serena played a few more tournaments in her career before making her retirement official a year-and-a-half later, but she never returned to the Australian Open, and nor did she ever reach the semifinal stage at a major again.
Had Novak Djokovic said a similar goodbye Friday night on Chatrier? He first spoke of his “great sense of gratitude” toward the crowd, but then acknowledged the inevitable.
“I mean, this could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know,” he said when asked if he’d be back here in a year’s time. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end. 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.”
That love from the crowd on Friday night in Paris was similar to what Serena had gotten against Osaka four years ago in Melbourne, albeit from a less-than-full stadium due to ongoing pandemic restrictions. For both Serena then and Novak now, crowds show their greatest love to the most ferocious champions once they have become less fearsome and more sympathetic with age.
“I don't think I have ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world,” Djokovic said. “So very, very honored to experience that, obviously…they would lift me up and encourage me and give me strength to keep going and fight to the last ball, which I did.”
There’s nothing surprising about Djokovic speaking openly about retirement at 38 years old, especially after he started his tournament here with a retirement tribute to Rafael Nadal alongside two more retired peers, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Sure, he had previously floated the idea of playing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics at age 41, but given the losses he’s taken since that big talk—no shame, just an inevitability of time—it’s not surprising he’s more measured lately.
Though I had gone into the press conference room ready to ask Djokovic about Sinner, I could read the newsworthiness of the moment enough to pivot, and instead asked Djokovic how long he had been thinking that this could be his last time here, potentially.
“Not long,” he replied. “You know, I don't know. I don't know really what tomorrow brings, in a way, at this point in my career. You know, I’m going to keep on keeping on, yes.
“Obviously Wimbledon is next, which is my childhood favorite tournament; I'm going to do everything possible to get myself ready,” Djokovic said. “I guess my best chances maybe are [at] Wimbledon, to win another slam—or faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that.”
The last question Djokovic got on the topic probed further to ask which way he was “leaning” about his uncertain future.
“I said it could have been my last match; I didn't say it was,” he said. “So I don't know right now. 12 months at this point in my career is quite a long time. Do I wish to play more? Yes, I do. But will I be able to play in 12 months' time here again? I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Given his age and his slipping results, Djokovic, of course, has gotten some retirement-tinged questions before. Last year when he lost to Sinner in the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open—ending a run of invincibility at his most prolific major—Djokovic said the loss “doesn't necessarily mean that it's beginning of the end, as some people like to call it. But in that same answer, he also admitted some openness to the possibility that he was on his eventual way down. “Let’s see,” he said.
Djokovic ultimately didn’t have a 2024 anywhere near as good as his 2023, in which he won three majors and made the final of the fourth, but he did reach a Wimbledon final and win Olympic gold.
After having to retire from his Australian Open semifinal this year due to injury, Djokovic went on two separate three-match losing streaks. He came into Paris on a slight high—winning his 100th career ATP title in Geneva days before the tournament. Though, more ominously, it wasn’t a great sign for his long term prospects that Djokovic had seemed so determined to go all-out in Geneva for an ATP 250 title on the eve of a major.
When he came into the press room about 30 minutes after Djokovic, Sinner was eventually asked about Djokovic’s statements of open uncertainty, and seemed caught off-guard—which surprised me because it’s the sort of thing I thought a tour handler might’ve mentioned to him on his way into the press room.
“Oh, I didn't know that,” Sinner said of Djokovic’s possible farewell. “Well, first of all, we hope that it's not the case, because I feel like tennis needs him in a way, because having someone different than the younger guys, in my point of view, it's so nice and amazing to see him in the locker room, having this energy and everything. I saw him practicing yesterday or couple of days ago: he's very precise in everything he does. It's a true role model for all of us.”
As he processed the news, Sinner seemed to realize some significance of possibly being the one to have ended Djokovic’s storied run here, even if Roland Garros was, with “only” three titles, the least prolific of the majors for Djokovic.
“But if that's the case, I'm happy to be part of this, because it's a part of history also,” Sinner said. “And also, for me, it's nice to be part of this.”
Sinner then seemed to realized he might have sounded over eager, and quickly course-corrected.
“But let's hope that's not the case, no?” Sinner added. “He said ‘maybe,’ so you never know.”
In Sunday’s final against his rival Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner will have the chance to do something which Djokovic remarkably did three times: win the Australian Open and French Open back-to-back to put himself halfway toward an elusive Calendar Grand Slam.
This chart doesn’t go back nearly that far, but for context: before Djokovic did that Melbourne-Paris double for the first time in 2016, the most recent man to do it had been Jim Courier in 1992.
Again, not unlike late-stage Serena, it’s even more impressive now to look at Djokovic’s accomplishments in his mid and late 30s in the 2020s, now that we know how close around the corner the end might have been all along.
Thank you for reading Bounces! As promised up top, the English translations of Djokovic’s revealing answers in Serbian, in which he took on a more defiant tone, are below the paywall below! -Ben
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