albertobra
Hall of Fame
Nothing really says that at 36 Novak will not be up there for still quite some time. He is obviously committed with body fitness, love for the sport and mental strength.
Novak top ten. Up to when?
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albertobra
Hall of Fame
I move my vote from 39 to 40 after today.
Novak will retire by end of 2025 at latest I am about 75 to 80% on this.
By then Rafa will have retired almost certainly with less GS"s than Novak and Novak's game will have declined enough where a few of top guys start beating him more often especially likes of Carlos, Rune and Sinner.
Novak will not want to stick around much after that point and will want to spend a bit of time with his family before maybe start coaching a few years later.
By then Rafa will have retired almost certainly with less GS"s than Novak and Novak's game will have declined enough where a few of top guys start beating him more often especially likes of Carlos, Rune and Sinner.
Novak will not want to stick around much after that point and will want to spend a bit of time with his family before maybe start coaching a few years later.
albertobra
Hall of Fame
But there is one important record that he might want to run after. The 109 titles of Jimmy Connors. He is still 12 short though.
Soul_Evisceration
Hall of Fame
But Goran Ivanisevic believes that Djokovic will play the Olympics in 2028 and I'm sure he would love to have 110 Titles in total to break Connors' record.
Of course anything can happen and he could retire by 2025 but I wouldn't be surprised if he pushes this to 2028-2029.
Benf15harp
Hall of Fame
He and Rafa both hang up the sticks at the end of next year and leave tennis to die so pickleball can truly thrive.
jm1980
Talk Tennis Guru
He can pull a Connors and compete in smaller 250s to increase his title count
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Yes, that's likely. The only way it wouldn't work out that way is if there were one dominant younger player. I can see a situation in which he declines a bit and Alcaraz improves a bit and so two years from now, Djokovic can make it to slam finals but keeps losing fairly comfortably against Alcaraz. I actually think in that situation, he might retire. Becker basically retired because he wasn't competitive against Sampras at Wimbledon. Venus Williams went totally off the boil after she lost five slam finals out of six against Serena and it took her years to get her mojo back. Being the perpetual #2 is demoralizing if you're used to being #1.
It would be different if Djokovic were to lose a string of slam finals to different players. Then he might keep trying. But Serena Williams losing four slam finals in 15 months to four different players did show that she was close to the end.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
If he were prepared to play as long as he could, then I think he might have a chance of about six more years in the top ten, though the last two or three of those would likely be in the lower reaches of the top ten. I'm starting to wonder whether he might win a slam after turning 40. I wouldn't rule it out but it is also too soon to rule it in. I remember thinking during the Indian Wells final in 2018 that Federer might be a top three player at 40, and it didn't work out that way. He was marginally older then than Djokovic is now. Injury was a large part of why he didn't make it to 40 as a top three player - he was still at top three player as late as the Australian Open 2020, when he was almost 38.5. And Djokovic might not get injured in the next 3.5 years. But the older someone gets, the more likely they are to suffer a career-ending injury.
Connor35
Professional
Given he won 7 this year, he could easily have that by end of 2025 though.
albertobra
Hall of Fame
On a very recent on court Interview Novak clearly stated that he will retire when youngsters will begin knocking him off regularly. And what now is actually happening is the opposite with a 3-2-3-3 to the two most promising youngsters of tour
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
When Nole is no longer a candidate at slams, he will retire. Roger was almost a candidate till ao 20. He made it to Nole in 2020. It was a sf match.
And Roger was 38.5
And Roger was 38.5
I Am Finnish
Bionic Poster
He will retire as #1
novak is a slam animal. and at a slam , anything can happen. As long as Novak can sniff out a vulturing win, he will stick around I think. suddenly alcaraz or sinner slips on a banana peel , and then another slam is up for grabs... I think novak will stick around until he is regularily knocked out in 3-4th round slams - 3 or 4 in a row. as long as he gets to week 2 ANYTHING can happen and nobody knows that better than novak..
albertobra
Hall of Fame
Current #6.....Will Novak still be top 10 by end of the year?
nolefam_2024
Bionic Poster
I chose upto 41 before..
He can skip many tournaments and drop out but will come back into top 10.
He can skip many tournaments and drop out but will come back into top 10.
albertobra
Hall of Fame
Well, Novak did reach 38.
DSH
Bionic Poster
albertobra
Hall of Fame
Well 39 incoming and top 3 still!
Red Rick
Bionic Poster
Good poast Rick. Seems correct until now.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
It seems correct now, but before this event, it seemed as though he was stuck at slam SFs and yet he didn't retire.
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