At an Olympics 2024 press conference, Novak Djokovic once again made a furious statement when asked about his retirement.
Dismissing the possibility of retiring anytime soon, Djokovic did not like a question involving the ‘end of an era’ in men’s tennis due to the rise of young stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
With Andy Murray playing his farewell competition in Paris and Rafael Nadal on his last legs, the speculations around Djokovic’s retirement also started doing rounds. Nadal has been struggling with his fitness for quite some time now and hence, is expected to hang up his boots very soon too.
It might happen in the Olympics itself or the Laver Cup in September 2024, though no confirmation has come from the Spanish legend himself.
Hence, with both Andy and Rafa’s retirement nearing and Roger Federer having already left the sport, Djokovic was asked if he is also planning to say goodbye to tennis anytime soon.
It doesn’t help the Serb that for the first time since 2005, he has entered the month of August in a particular calendar year without a single ATP title to his name.
To top it all, Djokovic recently lost the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz after having suffered from a knee injury at the French Open. At 37, he is not getting any younger.
However, the former World No.1 didn’t take these questions lightly and took a dig at his critics in the tennis world by claiming to know that everybody wants him to retire.
“I’m not thinking about retirement, although I know many people would love for me to retire so this era ends. However, I think as long as at least one of us remains, this era will continue. I’ve witnessed the shift of many generations in the last 15 years. The end is closer than the beginning, but I still enjoy competing and will continue until I no longer do.”
Though it’s good to hear that one of the Big 4 still plans to continue for long, the tone in which Djokovic said that, was perhaps uncalled for. There are many who would like Djokovic to play for the longest time, so it wasn’t really needed.
It makes one wonder – Does Novak Djokovic actually enjoy playing the antagonist all the time or everywhere he goes?
Given the kind of hate crowds have often showered on him on the court, this statement is expected to fuel it further. The likes of Nadal and Alcaraz are set to receive the biggest cheers from the crowd amongst all men’s players in the draw.
But that could motivate Djokovic to play better. If Nadal plays Djokovic in the second round of the men’s singles event, the crowd could get more difficult with the Serb.
Earlier this year, at the Monte Carlo Masters too, the 24-time Grand Slam champion lost his cool at a member of a crowd for continuously heckling him and in response, told him to ‘Shut the f up!”
Recently, during his clash against Holger Rune at Wimbledon, Djokovic alleged that a large section of the crowd was booing him deliberately. It got to a point that the Serb decided to not ignore it and called it out during the post-match presentation.
Condemning the crowd for not being respectful to him, the 37-year-old said:
“To all those people who have chosen to disrespect a player, in this case, me, have a good night.”
Djokovic would still be confident of doing well at the Olympics, but if he doesn’t, then such statements at press conferences could come to bite him back hard.
