{"id":403843,"date":"2026-01-13T00:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/403843\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:19:17","slug":"djokovic-retirement-stance-made-clear-after-australian-open-fears-tennis-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/403843\/","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic retirement stance made clear after Australian Open fears | Tennis | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, believes that there should be ‘no concerns’ over Novak Djokovic’s future heading into this year’s Australian Open. Djokovic has opted not to play an official tournament heading into the opening Grand Slam of 2026 after pulling out of next week’s Adelaide International tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 24-time Grand Slam winner cited that he was ‘not quite physically ready’ as his reason for choosing to skip the ATP 250. The Serb, who has not won a slam since the 2023 US Open, will now jet out to Australia having not played a competitive match since winning the title in Athens in November.<\/p>\n

Djokovic will be seeded fourth in Melbourne so will avoid No.1 seed Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and No.2 Jannik Sinner<\/a> until at least the semi-finals. It is the last-four where he came unstuck in 2025, having failed to go beyond that stage in all four slams last year.<\/p>\n

And there are concerns the 38-year-old may be edging closer to calling it quits after choosing to skip Adelaide – despite having had an off-season to prepare for another gruelling campaign. But Mouratoglou is confident that the 10-time Aussie Open winner will be fine when he lands Down Under for the tournament, which gets underway for those in the main draw on Sunday, January 18.<\/p>\n

In a post on Instagram<\/a>, he said: “Don\u2019t worry about Novak. He’s gonna be ready for the Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“First of all, I understand the people who are getting worried about Novak\u2019s future, considering that he just withdrew from Adelaide, but I don’t think they should.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably the last two years of Novak playing on tour. He’s still seeded quite high, so he will have the time at the Australian Open to have his level raised.<\/p>\n

“He is probably the most serious player of all time, the one who always wants to be the best prepared, always. You have to remember that it’s a five-set event and at his age, it’s even more difficult to win a Grand Slam, of course, because of Sinner and Alcaraz, but also because it’s challenging on the physical side.<\/p>\n

“He needs to be fully ready to play seven matches, potentially in five sets. And another reason not to worry about Novak. Last year, he made the semi-finals of the four grand slams at 38-years-old.<\/p>\n

“The last tournament he played, yes, it was an ATP 250, but he won it. To think that it’s the end because he just doesn’t play the tournaments he planned to play before a Grand Slam because he wants to be more ready for it? I take it as a good sign.”<\/p>\n

Djokovic has not won the Australian Open since 2023, but the tournament at Melbourne Park remains his favourite venue. The tennis great has never lost a final at the tournament and beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals last year – despite suffering a muscle tear that forced him to retire after just one set against Alexander Zverev<\/a> in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n