Boris Becker Urges Critics to Stop Discussing Novak Djokovic’s Retirement: “He’s Important for Tennis”

World No.4 Novak Djokovic took home two titles this year, the Geneva Open and the Hellenic Championship.

Boris Becker Urges Critics to Stop Discussing Novak Djokovic’s Retirement: “He’s Important for Tennis”

Novak Djokovic, Boris Becker (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, Sportbible)

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Novak Djokovic has made it clear that he doesn’t want to hang up his racket in the near future. What he desires the most at this stage of his career is his 25th Grand Slam title.

This season, the 24-time Grand Slam champion made the semifinals of all four Majors. He retired mid-match, giving a walkover to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open due to an injury. The 38-year-old then lost in straight sets against Jannik Sinner at the French Open and Wimbledon. Carlos Alcaraz knocked him out in straight sets at the US Open.

Djokovic ended his season after clinching the Hellenic Championship against Lorenzo Musetti. At the press conference later, the Serb revealed his dream retirement plan – that he wants to hang up his racket at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Since he has made it clear that he wants to prolong his career, his former coach, Boris Becker, has urged the critics to stop discussing Djokovic’s retirement. He told The Guardian:

Look, I think he’s important for tennis today. He leads by example and shows the young players the amount of dedication you need to come to the top and then stay on top. He’s still chasing his 25th grand slam and has reached all four major semi-finals this year and won two tournaments.

Apart from the Hellenic Championship, Nole also won the ATP 250 Geneva Open by beating Hubert Hurkacz. Djokovic played the Miami Open final but couldn’t end the match in his favor, losing it to Jakub Mensik.

The last Big Title that he lifted was the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal by beating Alcaraz. His last Major was the 2023 US Open, and since then, he has played just one Grand Slam final (2024 Wimbledon, which he lost to Alcaraz).

Novak Djokovic on who will win the Davis Cup Finals in the absence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Davis Cup, which got underway in Bologna on November 18. While Sinner, who helped Italy win the title in the last two years, wanted to skip the event, Alcaraz wanted to represent Spain.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

But a hamstring injury he suffered while clashing with Sinner in the ATP Finals forced him to pull out. Novak Djokovic, during his interview with Eurosport Italia, shared which team he thinks can win the Davis Cup now that Sinner and Alcaraz are not a part of their respective teams.

France was looking very strong, but then Belgium played incredible two singles matches. I saw that yesterday. Spain, Italy, obviously, without Sinner and Alcaraz, but they still have incredible fields, deep fields with players and teams that can win any match, really, singles and doubles. So I think it’s quite open. There’s some favorites, but maybe slight favorites, not really clear favorites. So it’s going to be interesting to see who ends up with the trophy at the end of the week.

Italy knocked out Austria to schedule their semifinal match against Belgium. Spain went past the Czech Republic and will meet Germany next. They are searching for their first title since 2019.

While Djokovic, for the second consecutive season, skipped the ATP Finals, Sinner and Alcaraz ended up playing the championship clash. The four-time Grand Slam champion and the six-time Grand Slam champion won a combined 14 trophies from 21 finals, including the four Majors.

The win helped Sinner improve his head-to-head record to 6-10. It was his second victory over the Spaniard in their last nine meetings. Alcaraz ended the season as the No.1 player thanks to his eight titles from 11 finals. This year, they met six times, with Sinner winning only at Wimbledon and the ATP Finals, losing at the Italian, French Open, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open.

Also read: FITP President Angelo Binaghi Wants Italian Open to Become 5th Grand Slam: “We Need to Challenge a Monopoly”