Ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic vowed he’ll attempt to add to his record 24 singles titles after retiring injured from his AO 2025 semifinal against Alexander Zverev.
“I'll keep striving to win more slams,” said the disappointed seventh seed, who was hunting for a 100th career title and 25th major at Melbourne Park.
READ: Djokovic retirement sends Zverev into AO 2025 final
“Injury is the biggest enemy of a professional athlete,” the former world No. 1 said. The Serb sustained a muscle tear during his quarterfinal win over third seed Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday and didn’t hit a ball until an hour before Friday’s semifinal at Rod Laver Arena.
“It wasn't to be this time,” added Djokovic, who defied the odds to win the AO 2021 title while harbouring an abdominal injury and clinched the Paris Olympic men’s singles gold medal just months after having right knee surgery.
“I cannot throw away all the incredible memories and results and achievements that I've achieved here over the years just because this year, I retired in the semifinals,” he added. “Australia always will stay in my head, in my heart, as the best Slam that I've ever played and ever performed [at].”
The world No. 7 said he has enjoyed his myriad trips Down Under, where he’s had some of the biggest wins of his career. “If I'm fit, healthy, motivated, I don't see a reason why I wouldn't come [next year]. “I want to keep going.”
Djokovic compared the muscle tear that forced him to retire to a similar injury he sustained before his title run in 2023 but acknowledged that it was more manageable two years ago.
"I did everything I possibly can to basically manage the muscle tear that I had,” he said, noting that medication, strapping and physiotherapy treatment helped him a little. “Towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain [and] it was too much, I guess, to handle for me at the moment.”
“Unfortunate ending, but I tried,” he said, acknowledging that even if he, rather than Zverev, had won the first set tiebreak, it wasn’t clear if his body would hold up.
“I knew even if I won the first set that it's going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another God knows what, two, three, four hours,” said the 37-year-old.
Djokovic, who is widely acknowledged to have “completed” tennis by winning the sport’s biggest titles, announced in November that long-time rival Andy Murray would join his coaching team. On Friday, he said the duo haven’t yet discussed future steps.
“I'll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me,” said Djokovic, who hugged the Scotsman after his four-set win over Alcaraz. “Give him my feedback, which is of course positive, and see how he feels and we make the next step.”
Djokovic, who was aiming to become only the second player after Roger Federer to record a 100th AO match win, said if he was physically fit he liked his chances of reaching a record 11th AO final and 38th major final.
“I was striking the ball very well, [there are] a lot of positives to take in terms of how I played [in the semifinals],” he said. Had he been victorious on Friday he would have been the oldest man in the Open era to reach an AO men's singles final.
“It's a very good result considering the circumstances but it's not satisfying to me,” he added, before stating what we all know about him. “I always look for the highest goal, to reach the finals and fight for a trophy.”
For a second straight year, Djokovic will tune into Sunday’s men’s final as a spectator. “I wish Sascha all the best,” he said, referencing the nickname of Zverev, the second seed. “He deserves his first Slam, I'll be cheering for him, hopefully he can get it here.”