Novak Djokovic has admitted that he can no longer give 100 per cent to tennis at this stage of his career. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has given a raw look into his life and career in a new documentary, and opened up to the cameras during an emotional moment at the 2025 Australian Open.
Last January, aged 37, Djokovic overcame a thigh injury to shock Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, but knew that he had torn the muscle. Nevertheless, he powered through and prepared for the semi-finals, ultimately retiring after going one-set down to Alexander Zverev.
‘Losing his mind’
But in revealing new footage filmed after his four-set victory over Alcaraz, the Serbian superstar admitted it was even more difficult to recover mentally as he was left feeling as though he was “losing his mind”.
While his physical team worked quickly to massage and strap up the affected area, the 10-time Aussie Open champion explained: “Physically, I’m able to recover. Mentally? No, I’m not able to recover. Mentally, I’m at the stage where I’m almost losing my mind.
“You would think logically, because when you age, you have more experience, that you would know how to deal mentally and emotionally with stress, with pressure, but the body is maybe not listening to you as much. For me, it’s vice-versa.
“The brain, it’s like it has had enough. The practice days, and media, and the expectations. It’s mostly about my own expectations. People think like, you know, ‘You’ve achieved so mahy great things and now you should enjoy’.
“I cannot enjoy. If I have to compete, if I have to put myself on the biggest stage, that carries so much weight for me. It’s not only about that match. It’s about my reputation, it’s about everything.”
Balancing family and career
While Djokovic has openly admitted that he is his own biggest doubter, the 39-year-old also explained that he could no longer dedicate everything to his tennis. The world No. 5 and his wife, Jelena, have two children – Stefan, 11, and Tara, eight – and Djokovic has been left questioning how long he should balance his personal and professional lives.
“There are days where I feel like I’m the best, there are days where I’m doubting myself a lot, and then I’m questioning whether I can keep up with the level of the best guys. But I cannot be 100 per cent dedicated to tennis,” he continued.
“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?”
Bitter exit and what followed
Djokovic also found it “more difficult” to push through mentally, knowing that he had to face Zverev in the 2025 Australian Open semi-finals just two days later. Although he was able to take to the court, he retired after losing a tiebreak and was booed as he exited Rod Laver Arena.
“I felt bitterness when I was exiting the court with that atmosphere, when people are booing, but it is what it is. In some way, I understand that people, they want a match, they paid [for] tickets, they want to come and they want to see you perform. I get it,” he reflected.
“I know in my heart that if I am able to leave it all out on the court, particularly aged 37 in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, I would do it because it might be my last semi-finals in my career, I don’t know.”
It wasn’t the last, though. Djokovic reached the semis of all four Majors in 2025. This year, he shocked two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals to reach the championship match, finishing runner-up to Alcaraz. Djokovic reached another Grand Slam semi at Wimbledon this summer.
