Former Australian Open Finalist Admits Novak Djokovic is Unlikely to Curtail His Career While Competitive on Tour

Novak Djokovic will kick off his 2026 campaign at the Adelaide International ahead of the Australian Open

Former Australian Open Finalist Admits Novak Djokovic is Unlikely to Curtail His Career While Competitive on Tour

Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Swish Tennis)

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Novak Djokovic’s only missing final piece to complete his tennis puzzle remains capturing a 25th Grand Slam, which will see him as the undisputed greatest player of all time in the sport. However, there have been debates about whether he should retire from the sport considering his age, but he remains competitive against younger players on tour.

The 38-year-old demonstrated an impressive longevity for the sport in 2025, finishing the season as World No.4, despite just featuring in only 12 tournaments and skipping the ATP Finals in Turin. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Alexander Zverev were the only players to finish above him in the ATP rankings.

Djokovic won 39 of his 50 matches this year, claiming the Geneva Open and the Hellenic Championship in the process. However, it was at the Grand Slam tournaments that he showed that age is just a number as he won fifteen matches in the four major tournaments, losing just four matches, coming against players ranked higher than him.

He showed grit and impressive form at the Australian Open in January, but injury forced him to retire in the semi-finals against Zverev. At the French Open, he got his revenge against Zverev, but couldn’t get past Sinner, who also defeated him in the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championship. Alcaraz then ended his hopes of securing a place in a Grand Slam final in 2025 after defeating the former World No.1 in the semi-finals of the US Open.

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who faced Djokovic eight times from 2007 to 2015, revealed during an interview with Tennis365 that he doesn’t foresee Djokovic retiring anytime soon if he remains competitive on tour. The former ATP player noted that Djokovic must decide how long he will compete on tour:

Year by year, it’s going less and less, the chances, that’s for sure. But he’s still there, he’s still in the top five players in the world, he’s still competing with the top two, even the top three. So, he’s still there. But how long, I think depends only on him, depends especially on his mind, if he’s still enjoying it and playing at that level. If I was in his place, I would never retire either. But it all depends on him.

Djokovic has on several occasions declared his intentions of playing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Should he keep playing at that time, he will be 41 years old and players younger than him will be eager to make history by just beating him. He hopes to win his 25th Grand Slam by that time.

Former WTA player believes Novak Djokovic will drop out of the top 10 next season

Novak Djokovic finished the 2025 campaign as World No.4 having started the season as No.7 in the ATP rankings. The 38-year-old claimed 4,830 points, which gave him a 1,960-point lead over current World No.11 Alexander Bublik. He will be aiming to remain in the top 5 next season, despite the challenge of Taylor Fritz and Jack Draper.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)

Former WTA player Nadia Petrova was asked about the likelihood of Djokovic’s challenge to go up in the rankings in 2026 in an interview with Championat. She revealed that the former World No.1 is most likely to drop out of the top 10 of the ATP rankings:

After all, if you look at age, all the players in the top 10 are around 23. Sasha Zverev and Taylor Fritz are 28, and Novak is 38. This year, of course, Novak managed to win two tournaments, but he didn’t reach the finals of any Grand Slam tournaments And each time, it’s getting more and more difficult for him physically. I can’t even imagine who else it could have been.

Djokovic will open his 2026 campaign at the Adelaide International ahead of the Australian Open. This will be the third time that Djokovic will be competing in Adelaide having won it in 2007 and in 2023 after beating Daniil Medvedev and Sebastian Korda in the semi-finals and final, respectively.

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