Former chair umpire discusses Novak Djokovic’s role after his retirement

Everyone knows that Novak Djokovic’s career is very close to its end, despite the fact that the Serbian legend has repeated several times that he is not thinking about retiring and that he dreams of also participating in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 (when he will be 41 years old).

The former world number 1 is no longer the incredible player he was a few years ago and his level has drastically dropped in recent times, especially in second-tier tournaments where he struggles to find the necessary motivation to shine.

His results at the beginning of 2025 are quite illustrative of this granted: he reached the semifinals at the Australian Open bringing out all his pride in the match against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, while in the other three tournaments played he disappointed in every sense.

At the Brisbane International he was eliminated by Reilly Opelka after a very lackluster performance, while his run in Doha ended in the first round against Matteo Berrettini. In the first Masters 1000 of the season – the ‘BNP Paribas Open’ in Indian Wells – he unleashed a truly horrible performance against Botic van de Zandschulp by saying goodbye to the prestigious tournament in California already in the second round.

Djokovic can do everything

The 37-year-old from Belgrade arrived in Miami yesterday and hopes to get a prestigious result in Florida, where he has not played since 2019 (when he was defeated by Roberto Bautista Agut in the round of 16).

In a long interview with ‘Il Corriere della Sera’, former Brazilian chair umpire Carlos Bernardes – one of the most famous on the ATP tour – spoke about Nole and his future after retirement: “It’s never easy to end your career and start a new chapter in your life. Novak can do anything after tennis, he can also become an important politician in Serbia but I hope he chooses another path. Politics creates too many controversies and divisions.”

The Brazilian added: “By winning the Olympics last year he achieved his last big goal, moreover at his last chance. Despite receiving a lot of criticism throughout his career, he continued to win.”