"Novak Djokovic being dedicated for 30 years, and not taking his foot off, there is not much time for other things in life" - Serb's father Srdjan
Novak Djokovic has already cemented his place as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, if not the greatest. His 2023 French Open victory gave him a record 23 men's Grand Slam singles titles, taking him above Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic has a record 38 ATP Masters 1000 titles in addition to his impressive Slam achievements, with Olympic gold being the only honor he is yet to win. The Serb also has won 94 ATP Tour events so far, an incredible feat by any metric.
In February this year Djokovic broke the all-time record for weeks spent at the top of the tennis rankings for men and women, surpassing tennis legend Steffi Graf (377 weeks).
His father Srdjan Djokovic opened up about his son's future in Sportal's documentary 'Novak Djokovic–Untold Stories'. Srdjan believes that his son will end his illustrious career in a year and a half.
He added that the game is physically and mentally demanding, which prevents Novak from being engaged in the other things in life.
"And for Novak to slowly but surely… It’s not the end, but in a year-and-a-half let’s say… My wish as a father – I think for some time that he should have stopped working this extremely difficult job," he said, as quoted by the Tennis Major.
"It’s physically and mentally challenging and very demanding – with him being fully dedicated for 30 years, and not taking his foot off the gas, there is not much time for other things in life," he added.
"I expect Novak Djokovic to be recognized for the things he will do after his career ends" - Srdjan
Srdjan then said Novak Djokovic had already fulfilled his father's wishes a few years ago. He added that he wants his son to be remembered for what he will do after his career ends, which he hopes will happen next year.
"As far as my wishes for him go, he has already fulfilled them all seven-eight years ago. The rest is this amazing bonus," Srdjan said.
"Tennis is only one segment of his life, not his whole life, I expect him to be recognized for the things he will do after his career ends as well, after he leaves the tennis world, which I hope it will happen next year," he added.
Following his ninth Wimbledon final appearance, Djokovic has withdrawn from the National Bank Open "due to fatigue," according to Tennis Canada. He has four Canadian Open singles titles to his name.