Novak Djokovic ‘astonishing’ retirement verdict as Serb handed ‘painful’ family dilemma
Novak Djokovic’s 2026 season officially came to an end last week as he suffered defeat to qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the second round of the Paris Masters, despite leading by a set. The 24-time Major winner lost 2-6 6-3 6-3 and then admitted that he “lost complete control” of the match. The defeat meant that Djokovic could not qualify for the ATP Finals and he is therefore done with competition for the year. The Serbian superstar has already committed to next year’s Australian Open and will also compete in the Six Kings Slam exhibition in late December, so shows no sign of slowing down just yet.
Djokovic has long made it clear that he’d like to compete until at least the 2028 Olympic Games, and in his new Prime Video documentary, Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter, he hit back at those who wanted to know when he would eventually retire.
As long as I feel like I can win tournaments and I can be one of the best players in the world, I want to keep going,” the 39-year-old said. However, retired tennis icon Jim Courier has been left “astonished” by Djokovic’s desire to continue – especially as it becomes more “painful” to leave his family behind while competing on the tour.
“I don’t know what to believe with Novak anymore, honestly. He’s he’s such a boundary pusher. It’s amazing,” Courier told the Off Court with Greg Rusedski podcast.
My biggest question is where does he want to end his career? You know, does he have sort of that picture-perfect finish? I know he’s said publicly many times that the Olympics is where he wants to end his career, and maybe that is where it’ll be.”
The former world No. 1 does have some questions about Djokovic’s hopes of playing until at least mid-2028. Courier continued: “He’ll need luck to stay healthy to get there, cause that’s not next year. So he’s got a little bit of time to get to it.
“He’s done things with his body over the course of his career to maintain it with all the flexibility work. I think that’s been essential.”
And Djokovic’s body isn’t the only thing that Courier is concerned about. The four-time Major champion, who is now a successful broadcaster, knows how difficult it must be for the current world No. 12 to leave his family at home while travelling. Djokovic and his wife, Jelena, have two children, Stefan, 12, and Tara, nine.
“But I’m just astonished that he still wants to keep pushing himself after all this time, and especially because of where his kids are in their lives,” he added.
“I have kids that are of a very similar age to his and it’s painful to be away from them, because we’re running out of that window before they kind of don’t want to spend time with you. It’s hard to really put yourself into Novak’s brain, and understand what drives him, right? He’s just a different kind of cat.
While Djokovic himself looks set to compete into next year, he has also admitted to struggling with leaving his family behind. Speaking in his documentary, the Olympic champion explained: “I cannot be 100 per cent dedicated to tennis.
“It’s not my life anymore. I need to be, you know, the husband, the father, I need to be all of the other things. This is the battle. How long should I do this? Why am I putting myself and my family through this over and over again?”
