Novak Djokovic makes fresh retirement statement after scare at Indian Wells | Tennis | Sport
Novak Djokovic has reiterated his hopes of playing until the LA 2028 Olympics, when he will be 41 years old. The Serbian superstar holds almost every record in the sport and has achieved everything possible. He’s spent the most weeks at No. 1 in the world, won 24 Majors, Olympic gold, and countless ATP Tour titles. Djokovic has fielded plenty of retirement questions in recent years, especially after getting his hands on a long-awaited gold medal in Paris two years ago.
But Djokovic has made it clear that he’s not ready to hang up his racket just yet. He recently finished runner-up at the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam final in 18 months. And more importantly, he still has dreams of competing in one more Olympic Games before he retires, even though he knows it could be very difficult to keep playing that long.
The next Olympics will be staged in Los Angeles in a little over two years. Djokovic is well accustomed to competing in California, with the first Masters 1000 event of the season – often dubbed the ‘fifth Grand Slam’ – taking place in Indian Wells. And after winning his opening match in the Cali desert, Djokovic was asked about his 2028 Olympics dream.
“Yeah, it would be nice. That’s one of the long-term goals, let’s call it, a way to reach the Olympics. That would be nice. I mentioned it a couple of times in the last year or so,” the 38-year-old replied.
“You know, it’s still a long way. I think at my age and my stage of my career, every year seems like, you know, longer period than for anyone else who is younger. But I’ll try to make it, definitely one of the motivations, so try to be there.”
The world No. 3 returned to action in Indian Wells on Saturday, playing his first match since losing that Aussie Open final to Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic has had mixed results in the Californian desert – he won five titles between 2008 and 2016, but since then, he’s not even reached the quarter-finals.
The Serb suffered a scare when he went a double break down to Kamil Majchrzak and dropped the first set, but he stormed back to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory, his first win here since 2024. Afterwards, Djokovic sparked concern when he explained just how tricky it was for him to compete in Indian Wells.
“Well, it was very challenging, as it is lately for me in Indian Wells, to be honest. It’s kind of hard to find my A-game, particularly at the beginning of the tournament in the last seven, eight years of coming here, so just glad to overcome a challenge,” the third seed said on court.
“Look, I mean, obviously different factors are in play, you know? I know what I need to do on the court, but obviously, it’s completely different practising and playing those practice sets, and coming into the official match. I find that the wind here is one of the toughest on the tour, just on a day like this, with the gusts of wind coming in and out, changing directions, it’s so, so difficult, particularly on this end of the court, and it just puts extra tension. And then if you’re tight, if you’re not feeling the ball well, then you are in big trouble. It’s what happened for me in the first set, in the last couple years.”
Djokovic will next face Aleksandar Kovacevic as he looks to reach the last 16 in Indian Wells.
