Djokovic drops huge retirement hint after being booed by Australian Open crowd
Novak Djokovic waved goodbye to the Australian Open crowd after retiring from his semi-final and concedes he may have played in Melbourne for the final time as injuries continue to strike
Novak Djokovic waved goodbye to the Australian Open crowd after retiring from his semi-final and concedes he may have played in Melbourne for the final time as injuries continue to strikeNovak Djokovic admits he may have played at the Australian Open for the final time (
Image: Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic has confessed he may have played at the Australian Open for the final time amid talk of him retiring.
The Serbian is now 37 and has had to deal with numerous injury woes over the past 12 months. It was his physical state that cost him in Melbourne with Djokovic having to retire hurt during his semi-final against Alexander Zverev after losing the first set, which resulted in boos from the crowd.
Last season he missed the French Open with a knee injury and has been managing some discomfort throughout the opening Grand Slam of 2025. He proved he can still mix it with the top players, knocking out Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, but concedes his playing days in Australia could be up.
Djokovic won his first ever Grand Slam in Melbourne back in 2008 and is now the tournament's most successful ever player, but may have waved goodbye to Rod Laver Arena for the final time on Friday.
He was asked if this could be his last Australian Open and said: “I don't know. There is a chance. Who knows? I'll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going. But whether I'm going to have a revised schedule or not for the next year, I'm not sure. I normally like to come to Australia to play.
"I've had the biggest success in my career here. So if I'm fit, healthy, motivated, I don't see a reason why I wouldn't come. But there's always a chance, yeah.”
With age no longer on his side questions are being asked about how much longer Djokovic can continue playing. The Serbian's biggest motivation is on landing a 25th Grand Slam - which would set him apart in the record books. Currently he's tied on 24 with Margaret Court.
The Serbian retired from his semi-final after one set
He said on his fitness: “How much of a worry is it? I don't know. It's not like I'm worrying, approaching every Grand Slam now whether I'm going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years.
“So it is true that, you know, getting injured quite a bit last few years. I don't know what exactly is the reason for that, you know? Maybe several differently factors. But I'll keep going. You know, I'll keep striving to win more slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I'll be around.”
Andy Murray had coached Djokovic through this Grand Slam with the former rivals teaming up following the Scot's retirement. Djokovic remained unclear whether the partnership would continue with discussions yet to happen about their plans for the remainder of the year.