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Novak Djokovic has given his honest opinion on his desire to continue playing tennis after making his return to the court for the 2025 Miami Open. He defeated Rinky Hijikata 6-0, 7-6(1) in the second round in Miami and ended his three match losing streak. It was also the Serbian's first victory at the Miami Open since 2019.
Novak Djokovic's motivation and retirement plans
Novak Djokovic has won six titles at the Masters 1000 tournament in Florida, a record that he shares with former tennis star, Andre Agassi. The last time Djokovic won the Miami Open was back in 2016.
The 37-year-old had an impressive run at the 2025 Australian Open in January where he defeated the likes of Tomas Machac, Jiri Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz. But, his stay at the court was cut down during the semifinals against Alexander Zverev, where he suffered hamstring injury and had to pull out of the contest.
Prior to Miami, Djokovic had difficult time at two tournaments following the first Major of the year as he lost to Matteo Berrettini in Doha and Botic van de Zandschulp in Indian Wells. The most astonishing point from both these losses was that Djokovic lost in the opening round.
After his win over Hijikata, the Serbian was asked whether desire and health were the two most crucial things for him in the latter end of his career during an interview with Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj.
If we have to boil it down to two things, yes, staying healthy definitely, which I’ve done pretty well for most of my career, but obviously, body is not the same like it was 15 years ago, so I have to put in more time in taking care of it, the world No 5 explained.
But also, yeah, taking care of my psychological state and trying to get up in the morning and feel motivated to keep going and push. And obviously, If I’m feeling and playing the way I did today, it’s pleasure and I have joy, I find joy on the court regardless of where I am. And then I want to keep going for as long as I have that feeling, Djokovic added.
Obviously it’s not going to be there every match, but as long as I have that feeling of being able to compete with the guys at the highest level, I’ll keep going. You know what I mean? So the desire is there, the support of the closest people in my life is there. Let’s see how far I can go, Djokovic concluded.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner will now face lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the third round in Miami.
