Rennae Stubbs Opens Up About Criticism from Novak Djokovic Fans for Retirement Comment: “65,000 Serbs Decided to Go After Me”
Novak Djokovic will be playing the first edition of the Hellenic Championship, which starts on November 2.
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Novak Djokovic, Rennae Stubbs (Image via X/AllAboutHQ, New York Post)
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Novak Djokovic has often expressed his wish to prolong his career even though he is rarely winning tournaments these days. Djokovic, in fact, has not been in action since the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event held in Riyadh.
The last unofficial match that he played was against eventual champion Valentin Vacherot in the semifinal of the Shanghai Masters, where the Serb was chasing his record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title. Djokovic threw up mid-match several times during his campaign in the Chinese city amidst intense heat and humidity.
Because of fitness problems, the 24-time Grand Slam champion even handed the walkover to Taylor Fritz in the third-place match of the Six Kings Slam. This season, he made it to the semifinals of all the Grand Slam events but failed to go beyond that. At the US Open, after eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz knocked him out in straight sets, Djokovic made it clear that he will continue his hunt for his record 25th Grand Slam title next year.
The next Major is the Australian Open, and Serena Williams‘ former coach, Rennae Stubbs, thinks Nole should hang up his racket in the Melbourne Slam as he holds the record for most titles (10). But her words were misinterpreted by fans, and as a result, they started to criticize her.
When you’re the greatest player of all time, who’s won the most Grand Slams of all time. And I think, and so my words, of course, they take that one line, and then they put it up as a headline, and then of course, 65,000 Serbians decide to go after me for saying something like that, taken out of context.
Rennae Stubbs said on her The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast
This year at the Major Down Under, Djokovic scheduled the semifinal match against eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev. But an injury forced him to give Sascha the walkover after losing the first set.
So it drives me crazy. Then, and then you say, well, just ignore them. And that is all true. I could ignore them. But the point is those comments are taken out of context. If you kept going on my comments, my next comment was, I hope he keeps playing. We love him in the draw.
Rennae Stubbs added
The Paris Masters is underway, but Djokovic, just like last year, chose to skip it. It was here back in 2023 that he lifted his last Masters 1000 title by defeating Grigor Dimitrov.
What’s next for Novak Djokovic?
Novak Djokovic has played two finals and taken home one title so far this season. He came close to winning his career’s 41st Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open but lost the title to Jakub Mensik with a straight-set defeat in the final.
But at the Geneva Open, an ATP 250 tournament, he overcame Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz to win his career’s 100th singles title, becoming the third man in the Open Era to win 100 or more singles titles after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. The Paris Masters will be concluded on November 2, and on the same day, the first edition of the Hellenic Championship will get underway.
Djokovic has signed up for the Athens tournament, where his brother Djordje Djokovic is serving as the tournament director. He will be the first seed, while Karen Khachanov will be the second seed. The 38-year-old has 13 ATP 250 titles to his name from 18 finals.
Although he has qualified for the ATP Finals, his participation in the event is uncertain. He chose not to defend the year-end championships last year.
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