Novak Djokovic Reveals Why He Wanted to ‘Leave’ Tennis in 2010: “I Was Really Stressed Out About Everything”

World No.12 Novak Djokovic has played just one final this season.

Novak Djokovic Reveals Why He Wanted to ‘Leave’ Tennis in 2010: “I Was Really Stressed Out About Everything”

Novak Djokovic (Image via CLAY)

Novak Djokovic dropped outside the top 10 for the first time since 2018. That’s because he has played just seven tournaments this season and lost the early rounds of five of them, including the French Open and the US Open.

He made deep runs in two events: the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Carlos Alcaraz denied him his historic 25th Grand Slam title with a four-set win in the final. Later at Wimbledon, eventual champion Jannik Sinner cruised past him in the semifinals.

Djokovic is trying to defy age, but his results in Majors only show that he is succumbing to it. At this stage of his career, he is just a shadow of his former self. Djokovic did not become one of the best athletes of all time overnight. It took him years to improve his tennis skills and build mental strength, plus the competition from his biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, only made him a better player.

But then there were also times when he wanted to retire from tennis. He recently gave an interview to GQ during which he revealed why he wanted to leave tennis in 2010.

The greatest lessons are always coming with if you want to call them failures, or the matches that you lose, or facing a major injury, when you’re really questioning everything around yourself, or yourself like deep inside, whether you have what it takes or not. I think that’s where you really have a golden nugget, or a golden opportunity to really grow out of it, stronger, more capable, more resilient as a human being, but also as a professional athlete.

In the recently concluded US Open, Djokovic suffered physical setbacks during his first-round match against Mariano Navone before eventually losing in five sets, crashing out of the first round of a Major for only the third time in his career. The locker room may have started thinking Nole is now beatable.

Let’s pick one: 2010, when I wanted to leave tennis. I didn’t know whether I had what it takes, and I wasn’t able to crack the top spot of the world. I was losing to Federer and Nadal, my two greatest rivals, in most of the big matches we played each other in those years. I was really stressed out about everything that was happening. It was one of the biggest turning points, I would say.

Novak Djokovic added
RELATED
ATP Player Claiming He Could Beat WTA World No.1 Elena Rybakina Sparks Wild Reactions – “Really Hilarious”

Novak Djokovic will play at the China Open next

Novak Djokovic will be competing in a tournament for the first time in 11 years. It’s the ATP 500 China Open, which is set to start on September 30.

Novak Djokovic (4)
Novak Djokovic (Image via The Independent)

I’m very happy to announce that I’m coming back after many years to play in Beijing at the China Open. I am excited to come back and perform in front of all of you at the National Tennis Centre – one of the nicest venues we have in tennis. A place where I had some incredible memories and great success throughout my career.

Novak Djokovic said in a statement

Defending champion Jannik Sinner will also be competing. It will be his first tournament since Wimbledon, where he defeated Alexander Zverev to defend his title.

Sinner then skipped the Canadian Open and was forced to withdraw from both the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open due to a knee injury. Last year in Beijing, the five-time Grand Slam champion beat Learner Tien.

While Djokovic last won a title at the 2025 Hellenic Championship, Sinner has already lifted six titles this season. Apart from Wimbledon, he won the first five Masters 1000s of the season.

Also read: Toni Nadal Believes Ben Shelton Would’ve Become One of Carlos Alcaraz’s ‘Biggest Rivals’ Had He Won US Open