Novak Djokovic is not ready to say goodbye to Wimbledon. Hours after a straight-sets semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner on Friday, the 39-year-old said he intends to return to the All England Club “at least one more time,” pushing back against the retirement questions that now trail every deep run of his late career.
Djokovic went down 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to the world No. 1 on Centre Court, beaten in the last four at Wimbledon by Sinner for a second successive year. The defeat closed off what many had framed as his most realistic remaining chance to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam singles title — already the most of any man or woman in the sport’s history.
Yet the Serb, who will be 40 by the time the 2027 Championships arrive, was unequivocal when asked whether he would be back. He said he would like to return at least once more, and insisted he feels no external pressure to continue, framing his ongoing presence in the game as a choice rather than an obligation.
“I do it because I really want to and because I still can,” Djokovic told reporters, adding that he believes he can still perform as a top-five player when fully fit.
The candour extended to his assessment of the match itself. Djokovic offered no excuses, acknowledging that Sinner was simply the better player and that he had been a fraction slow on almost every exchange. The Italian struck 16 aces and overwhelmed the seven-time champion in a clinical display that sends him into Sunday’s final against Alexander Zverev in defence of the title he won 12 months ago.
There was a note of frustration beneath the graciousness. Djokovic reflected that reaching a Grand Slam semi-final would represent an excellent fortnight for the vast majority of the tour, but that his own standards leave him unable to view it that way. He described himself as “blessed and cursed” by a career spent operating at the highest possible level, and spoke of an “internal battle” between shifting goals and the expectations he still sets for himself.
That internal reckoning appears central to whatever he decides next. Djokovic said he continues to relish competition, while admitting that the punishing training blocks and the physical toll of preparing for major tournaments are harder to embrace than they once were. Encouragingly for his supporters, he noted that his body had held up well across the fortnight — a contrast, he suggested, with almost every other event of the past two seasons.
His route to the semi-finals underlined that he remains a formidable presence on the biggest stage. Djokovic came through a demanding draw featuring Stefanos Tsitsipas, Arthur Rinderknech and Roman Safiullin before surviving a five-set thriller against Felix Auger-Aliassime — one of the standout matches of the tournament — to reach the last four.
The bigger picture remains the 25th major. Djokovic beat Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals in January before losing the final to Carlos Alcaraz, and reached the semi-finals of all four Slams in 2025. This year has, by his own exacting measure, brought a step back: one final and one semi-final from the season’s first three majors.
Attention now turns to the US Open, where the Serb will make his next attempt to move clear of the record he currently shares with Margaret Court. For now, though, his message from Wimbledon was one of persistence rather than farewell. He said he prefers to take the decision on his future a day at a time — and, for at least one more year, that future looks likely to include a return to the lawns where he has won seven titles.
