Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who has won 21 singles Grand Slam titles, claimed to still have the “passion” and “hunger” to compete at the highest level despite skipping this year’s Australian Open and US Open because of his decision to forgo the Covid-19 vaccine.
The 35-year-old Serbian has seen his ATP ranking plummet from No. 1 to No. 7 this year as a result of missing the two majors and Wimbledon losing ATP and WTA ranking points for not allowing Russian and Belarusian players to compete this year. Djokovic won Wimbledon by defeating Australia’s Nick Kyrgios.
Djokovic also said he is not contemplating retirement just yet, especially in the wake of one of his contemporaries, Roger Federer, calling it a day recently. The 88-time tour-level titlist said he is eager to maintain his highest level of competitiveness.
“I still want to play tennis even though I achieved pretty much everything that you can achieve in tennis,” Djokovic was quoted as saying by atptour.com. “I still have passion and hunger to play at a highest professional level.”
Djokovic competed over the weekend at the Laver Cup, which became a celebration of the now-retired Federer’s career. He was a part of team Europe which faced defeat from team world, it was team World first ever title win.
“I have a massive respect for Roger, and to what he had contributed to our sport. He had an epic career, he can be proud of it. He’s one of the most recognised athletes of all time,” said Djokovic. “His retirement is a sad moment for tennis.”