Novak Djokovic Gets Brutally Honest About Tennis Future After Wimbledon Loss

Over the past week, Novak Djokovic surpassed Roger Federer for most all-time men’s singles wins at Wimbledon, but he fell short of tying Federer’s all-time most eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles.

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, 24, made quick work of Djokovic, 39, in their semifinal match - winning in straight sets and hardly breaking a sweat. Djokovic did not mince words about it afterward.

“It was a good ol’ blowout,” Djokovic said to open his post-match presser. “There’s not much I could do.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion - the winningest tennis player of all time - was similarly brutally honest when a reporter said he is the “best returner there’s ever been.” Djokovic interjected, “Was. That’s the reality. Was.”

That’s the bad news. Age comes for us all, even our greatest athletes.

The good news? Djokovic isn’t ready to ride off into that sunset just yet.

Djokovic revealed he’d “like to” compete at Wimbledon “at least one more time” next year, shortly after his 40th birthday.

Djokovic won the 2023 US Open and has been chasing his 25th Grand Slam title ever since. He has reached two major finals in that time - losing to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in 2024 final and again to Alcaraz at the Australian Open in February.

“Last year, I reached four semifinals; this year, out of 3 Slams, I reached one final and one semifinal,” Djokovic said. “For 99% of players, that would be a very good Grand Slam result. For me, it’s good, but not good enough. Because I’m blessed and cursed to be used to something of the highest degree in terms of results and achievements.

“In some way, I'm also dealing with myself in a sense that I'm telling myself, ‘Look, this is amazing that you're still able to play at such a high level and push the youngsters to the limit for Grand Slam title,’ which is true. But at the same time, I always have the highest expectations for myself.”

Before Alexander Zverev broke through to win at Roland-Garros last month, Alcaraz, Djokovic, and Sinner accounted for every men’s Grand Slam major title since Wimbledon in 2022.

Sinner and Zverev will meet in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, July 12. Sinner is vying for his second straight Wimbledon title, while Zverev is looking to win his second major in one month after waiting over a decade for his first.

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This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 9:51 PM.