By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Monday, January 27, 2025
Photo credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty
Novak Djokovic waved good-bye to fans walking off Rod Laver Arena after retiring from the Australian Open semifinals.
The Grand Slam king has not made his final farewell to Melbourne, says Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley.
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Meeting the media in Melbourne the day after Jannik Sinner swept Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to successfully defend his Australian Open, Tiley was asked to assess Djokovic’s AO future.
The 37-year-old Serbian superstar suffered a muscle tear to his left leg that forced his retirement from the AO semifinals after dropping the first set to Zverev, 7-6.
Tiley is confident 10-time AO champion Djokovic will return to Melbourne Park in 2026.
“There was some talk about Novak [not returning to the AO]—Novak will return,” Tiley told the media on Monday. “He leaves today and he’s with his family, his team left on Friday.
“We’ll see Novak back and I look forward to catching up with him in the next couple of weeks.”
Asked directly if his semifinal retirement was his final AO match, Djokovic said if he’s healthy, he definitely wants to return in 2026, but conceded it’s possible he has played his last match at Melbourne Park.
“I don’t know. There is a chance. Who knows?” Djokovic said in his semifinal post-match presser. “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.”
Tournament Director Tiley defended Djokovic’s retirement saying the 24-time Grand Slam champion did everything in his power to compete.
“He had a good warm-up that morning and his team were confident that he’d be able to get out there and play,” Tiley told the media. “I haven’t met a player that does as much pre-preparation and has as big a focus on it as Novak does, and he would do everything he possibly can to get on the court.”
