Novak Djokovic Hails ‘Epic’ Serena Williams Amid Return to Professional Tennis at 44

Novak Djokovic has applauded 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams after her return to professional tennis this year. The American tennis legend was last seen playing singles at Wimbledon this season, where she put in a competitive effort in her first-round loss to Maya Joint.

Djokovic, who is also one of the veterans on the professional circuit, has called Williams epic after his return to the tour. Despite the injury she sustained at Wimbledon, she will play doubles alongside her sister Venus at the Cincinnati Open. Djokovic was talking in an interview with People.

In a sense, you have to be kind of selfish as an individual athlete to be pursuing your career, and everyone else is supportive of you. Serena is an inspiration. Serena is epic. I love Serena. I’ve always been a fan of what she’s doing after two children, coming back and attempting to compete at the highest level in Slams. Regardless of what she does, it’s already incredibly inspiring. We all should enjoy her presence.

Williams had never ruled out her return to professional tennis since her first retirement at the 2022 US Open. Moreover, given that Venus Williams continues to play singles to this day, reporters have asked her about Serena’s return.

Serena returned to professional tennis at the Queen’s Club earlier this year. She played doubles with Victoria Mboko and won the first match against Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.

Novak Djokovic Shares Hints of Life After Tennis Retirement

24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has discussed plans for his life after his imminent retirement from tennis. The Serb claims that despite the plans to hang up his racket, he won’t stop playing tennis.

I’m not going to truly hang up the racket. I might stop competing at the highest professional level, but I’m going to continue playing tennis because I love tennis. I love tennis for the sake of playing—playing with my children, my brothers, my wife, whoever. I love playing tennis, the sport that has given me so much.

Novak Djokovic added in his conversation with People

Djokovic recently lost in the opening round of the Cincinnati Open. He will now headline the US Open, where he will try to win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic is currently 39 years old, but the lack of wins on tour has made people question his powers. The Serb has arguably given the greatest competition to fatherhood, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last month after a five-set epic against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

However, Djokovic has not won any big titles since the Olympic Singles Gold medal in Paris two years ago. Moreover, his last Grand Slam title win came at the 2023 US Open.

Novak Djokovic Discusses the Impact of Children on his Professional Career

Djokovic has revealed the importance of his children in his tennis career. The Serb has a son and a daughter, Stefan and Tara.

I arguably had the most successful 18 months of my life after my son was born [in October 2014]. A similar thing happened after my daughter was born [in September 2017]. I owe a lot to my children. They teach me on a daily basis how to forgive, how to stay present, how to enjoy the moment, how to be playful with life.

After Stefan, Djokovic enjoyed the most successful part of his career. The Serb won 5 of the 6 Grand Slams between the 2015 Australian Open and the 2016 Roland Garros.

Things were very different during Tara’s birth, as he was enduring the worst phase of his career. However, the resurgence in 2018 ensured he would collect 12 more Grand Slam titles over the remainder of his career.

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