Novak Djokovic has candidly admitted Wimbledon is his "best chance" to make history, as the Serbian bids for a record 25th Grand Slam title in the final stages of his illustrious career.
Djokovic is aiming to cap off his incredible career by becoming the most successful singles player in tennis history. At 38, Djokovic has now equalled Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles after winning the 2023 US Open.
With reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner on the rise, who have shared the last six Grand Slam titles between them, Djokovic believes his most realistic chance of getting his hands on a historic 25th title is on the grass courts of south-west London.
Djokovic participates in an interview ahead of Wimbledon (Photo: Getty).
"I probably agree that Wimbledon is probably the best opportunity because of the results I've had, because of the way I feel, the way I played at Wimbledon, just having that extra mental push and motivation to play my best tennis at the highest level," Djokovic told reporters at an interview on Saturday (June 28).
Djokovic lost to Alcaraz in the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals and has failed to reach the title match at any of the last three Grand Slams.
After losing to Sinner in the Roland Garros semi-finals, Djokovic enters Wimbledon in an unusual position, no longer considered a top contender for the grass-court Grand Slam title. If he wins Wimbledon this year, the Serbian will equal Roger Federer's record of eight Wimbledon men's singles titles.
However, Djokovic has faced repeated questions about when he will retire, especially after he fulfilled his dream of winning a men's singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year, despite winning his 100th title in Geneva in May.
Djokovic has won 100 professional titles (Photo: Getty).
After Roland Garros in June, he hinted at the possibility of not returning to the tournament and also appeared hesitant to talk about leaving Wimbledon.
"I'm not sure if this will be my last appearance, just like I'm not sure about Roland Garros or any other Grand Slam that I will participate in next," Djokovic said.
"My desire is to play for many more years," he added. "I really want to be physically fit and also mentally motivated to continue playing at the highest level. That's the goal, but you never know at this stage."
After years of competing with Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, Djokovic is the last of this star quartet still playing.
Despite being usurped by Alcaraz and Sinner as world number one in the past two years, Djokovic happily admits his only remaining goal is to make Grand Slam history.
"In a sense, you always have to chase because you always aim for titles, with my privileged position being records and history. I think now things are a little different because I'm not chasing rankings anymore. I'm trying to play my best tennis at the Grand Slams and trying to win the Grand Slams," Djokovic said.
Djokovic hopes to play well at Grand Slam tournaments (Photo: Getty).
Seeded No. 6, his lowest at Wimbledon since 2018, Djokovic will begin his campaign against France's Alexandre Muller next week.
The Serbian, who has appeared in every Wimbledon final since 2018, is expected to face fourth seed Jack Draper of Britain in the quarter-finals and Sinner in the semi-finals, before a possible reunion with Alcaraz in the final. Ahead of the challenging schedule, Djokovic admitted his recent form has been inconsistent.
"My form has been more up and down and more volatile than most of my career. If you look back at the last year and a half, I've been quite inconsistent with my results. This year I played two semi-finals. Unfortunately, I had to retire in Australia. At Roland Garros, I was beaten by Sinner. I think I'm still playing at a pretty good level of tennis, which shows that I can still play at a very high level in the later stages," Djokovic said.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/djokovic-dat-het-ky-vong-vao-wimbledon-20250629142026223.htm
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