By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, April 25, 2025
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
Walking off the practice court in Madrid, Novak Djokovic flipped a souvenir ball to a young fan.
Throughout his long career, Djokovic continously connects with fans, both young and old.
The 37-year-old Serbian superstar continues his quest for a 100th career championship in Madrid this week and took some time to reflect on the state of the sport.
Grand Slam king Djokovic said engaging with the new generation and representing his icon Big 4 generation inspires him to keep playing 19 years after he defeated Richard Gasquet in his Madrid debut.
Recognizing we’re seeing a generational shift in the sport, Djokovic said representing the “older generation” against today’s young talents is motivational fuel.
“The last 20 years was dominated mostly by the four of us, and, you know, obviously when the three of my biggest rivals retired, you know, you can feel there’s a shift, not only in terms of the generations of players that are kind of now, all of a sudden, the main focus and attention is on them,” Djokovic told the media in Madrid. “But it’s just, you know, I guess it takes a little bit of time for people to accept the fact that Roger and Rafa are not playing, and Murray, and I guess one day myself, but I’m still trying to stay there and represent the older guys, the older generation.
“Hopefully that brings the positive effect to the tournaments and to the tour itself.”
While some predicted the Tour’s popularity would inevitably decline with the retirements of his fellow Big 4 champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and his coach, Andy Murray, Djokovic points to the fact attendance has actually increased at Grand Slams and several Masters 1000 events as a sign fans are engaged and excited by the generational clashes.
In fact, Djokovic’s inspired win over 21-year-old Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics gold-medal match last summer—his 99th and most recent title—reinforces that fact.
“That’s also one of the reasons why I keep on playing is because I feel like it also helps tennis still thrive on the attention and crowd coming in and watching tournaments and getting interested,” Djokovic said. “If you see the numbers actually of the attendance in the Grand Slams as well and some, like Indian Wells, it’s record-breaking crowd in the last few years.
“Which is good news that it shouldn’t be dependent on the big stars or legends of the game that retired. It should be, it should, the sport should outlive everyone, the sport will outlive everyone, and the sport is more important than anybody individually. So we are all here in the service of a sport as well.”
To that end, the man who held the world No. 1 ranking longer than any other ATP champion says growing the game remains a primary mission.
“I think this is something to keep in mind that, you know, when you play and all the things that you’re doing outside of the court as a top player, you are trying to contribute to the popularity of the tennis,” Djokovic said. “To bring more people, bring young children and people to tennis, and get interested and excited about tennis.
“Which I see happening, but, you know, I think we still have a big steps to make in that regard. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
