Novak Djokovic isn't playing the full calendar anymore, and he won't play it in 2025, with some hints suggesting a much smaller schedule than in previous years.
Djokovic isn’t the youngest anymore, but even if he were a couple of years younger, he's at the stage of his life where certain things rank high on the priority list alongside tennis. He's not stepping away from the sport nor retiring anytime soon, but he won't be playing as many events as he did in the past.
It's a natural progression because playing the full schedule is something even much younger players struggle with, so it doesn't make sense for Djokovic to push himself through that grind.
On a more personal ambition level, it mostly comes down to him having essentially won everything he possibly could. That's the case since he finally won the Olympic Gold this year in Paris, so playing some smaller events doesn't mean as much to him as it once did.
For him, now it's all about playing for his country and competing at the Grand Slams, which are the ultimate markers of tennis greatness. He has admitted that multiple times in the past and confirmed it once more during an interview with the ATP ahead of his return at the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
"I have to repeat the same thing as said, so my main focus is the slams and playing for my country. That's what drives me most, which, of course, doesn't mean that I won't play Masters events."
"Probably not all of them, but I'll work on my schedule for next season, and then I'll see where it kind of fits my professional and private life schedule. I'll pick and choose where I want to play."
Many of his fans are curious to see how his schedule might look next year, but according to the Serbian, it's very simple. Djokovic highlighted that most of his scheduling decisions, especially regarding the smaller events, will factor in the Grand Slams because he will prioritize those events and ensure he prepares for them properly.
"Also the tournaments that kind of help to build the right trajectory of preparation for Grand Slams."
What that could mean in practice is, for example, him skipping over the Madrid Open but playing the Italian Open the week after and using that event as his main preparation before the French Open.
The reason why that would make sense is because Madrid is a high-altitude city, at least compared to Rome, so the conditions there are very different from what he'll experience in Paris, which will be his ultimate goal.
Rome is much more similar to what he'll experience in Paris, so there is a clear reason why he’ll likely play there and not in Madrid. He's generally had better results in Rome as well, which is also a factor in that decision.
On top of that, those two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments being back-to-back adds to the list of reasons to skip one of the tournaments. Ultimately, the Serbian focuses only on his upcoming tournament, and that's the Shanghai Masters, where he was very happy to return.
"It feels great. I missed it. It's been awhile, as you said, five years, coming back to, honestly, one of the happiest places I've had in my career, a place, a country where I had plenty of success on the tennis courts, Beijing and Shanghai, many titles won, great memories."
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