Djokovic Will Return to AO

By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow  | Monday, January 27, 2025

Picture credit score: Darrian Traynor/Getty

Novak Djokovic waved goodbye to followers strolling off Rod Laver Enviornment after retiring from the Australian Open semifinals.

The Grand Slam king has not made his closing farewell to Melbourne, says Australian Open Event Director Craig Tiley.

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Assembly the media in Melbourne the day after Jannik Sinner swept Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to efficiently defend his Australian Open, Tiley was requested to evaluate Djokovic’s AO future.

The 37-year-old Serbian celebrity suffered a muscle tear to his left leg that pressured his retirement from the AO semifinals after dropping the primary set to Zverev, 7-6.

Tiley is assured 10-time AO champion Djokovic will return to Melbourne Park in 2026.

“There was some speak about Novak [not returning to the AO]—Novak will return,” Tiley advised the media on Monday. “He leaves at the moment and he is along with his household, his crew left on Friday.

“We’ll see Novak again and I sit up for catching up with him within the subsequent couple of weeks.”

Requested immediately if his semifinal retirement was his closing AO match, Djokovic stated if he is wholesome, he positively desires to return in 2026, however conceded it is doable he has performed his final match at Melbourne Park.

“I do not know. There’s a likelihood. Who is aware of?” Djokovic stated in his semifinal post-match presser. “I will simply must see how the season goes. I need to maintain going.

“However whether or not I will have a revised schedule or not for the subsequent yr, I am unsure. I usually like to return to Australia to play. I’ve had the largest success in my profession right here. So if I am match, wholesome, motivated, I do not see a motive why I would not come. However there’s at all times an opportunity, yeah.”

Event Director Tiley defended Djokovic’s retirement saying the 24-time Grand Slam champion did every little thing in his energy to compete.

“He had a great warm-up that morning and his crew have been assured that he’d have the ability to get on the market and play,” Tiley advised the media. “I have not met a participant that does as a lot pre-preparation and has as large a deal with it as Novak does, and he would do every little thing he presumably can to get on the court docket.”