RIYADH – Novak Djokovic has no plans to retire from tennis with the 24-time Grand Slam winner citing NBA great LeBron James, former NFL player Tom Brady and veteran footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as his inspiration to keep playing.
The 38-year-old's last Grand Slam win came in 2023, but the Serb shows no signs of slowing down having reached the semis of all four majors this year and is currently ranked No. 5 in the world.
"Longevity is one of my biggest motivations. I really want to see how far I can go," he said at the Joy Forum in Riyadh. "If you see across all the global sports, LeBron James, he's still going strong, he's 40, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Tom Brady played till he was 40-something years old.
"I mean, it's unbelievable. They're inspiring me as well. So I want to keep going and that's one of the motivations I have."
Djokovic was also eager to be a part of his sport's evolving future.
"I want to also live to see, live meaning still keep on playing professionally, to see the change that is coming for our sport," he added.
"And I'm super excited about it. I feel like tennis is a sport that can be greatly, and will be greatly transformed.
"I want to be part of that change. I want to be not just part of that change, but I want to be playing when we kind of rejuvenate our sport and set the new platform that is going to go on for decades to come."
Djokovic, who won his 100th career title in Geneva this year, was asked whether the younger players, the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, will need to beat him into retirement.
"I'm sorry to disappoint them, it's just not happening," he said.
In other news, the International Tennis Federation, one of the sport’s global governing bodies, on Thursday announced that it would change its name next year to World Tennis.
Initially formed in Paris in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation, it changed its name to the shorter ITF in 1977.
“The name change is designed to better reflect the organisation’s role as the sport’s global governing body and guardian,” the ITF said in a statement, adding that it had been adopted by an “overwhelming majority” in a vote amongst its member national tennis associations.
The move follows similar ones in others sports where the governing bodies changed their names, such as World Athletics and World Aquatics.
The ITF is in charge of organising the Olympic tennis tournament, the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.
It is one of seven governing bodies in international tennis, alongside the ATP, which runs the men’s circuit, the WTA, which does likewise for women’s tournaments, and the organisers of the four Grand Slams: Wimbledon, Roland Garros, the US Open and the Australian Open.
“This evolution follows extensive consultation across the global tennis community and reflects our shared ambition to strengthen, unify and grow the game worldwide,” said ITF president David Haggerty in the statement. REUTERS, AFP
Novak DjokovicLeBron JamesCristiano Ronaldo