Djokovic plans to keep playing for ‘years to come’

BRISBANE: Novak Djokovic said Sunday he planned to keep playing for “years to come” -- with more tournaments on his schedule in 2025 -- as he looks to take down the new guard led by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alzaraz.

The 37-year-old had a disappointing campaign last year by his standards, failing to win a Grand Slam and claiming just one title -- Olympic gold in Paris. He has slipped to number seven in the world and said he wanted to get his ranking back to “where it should be”.

“I´m looking for a good start to the season, I´m looking for more consistency across all the tournaments,” he said as he prepared to play at the Brisbane International this week. “I´m looking to play more tournaments this year than I played last season, so hopefully also my level is going to go up.

“Hopefully I will win a few more tournaments and my ranking will go up to where it should be.” The 24-time Grand Slam champion is beginning a season for the first time without any of the other so-called “Big Four” on the other side of the net following the retirements this year of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Roger Federer called it quits in 2022. As they faded, Sinner and Alcaraz stepped up to become the new Grand Slam kings. Djokovic, who is targeting an 11th Australian Open title next month and a record 25th Grand Slam crown, said he had no thoughts of retirement despite turning 38 in May.

“The way I´m feeling today, I still think that I can go strong for years to come,” he said. The Serb, the top seed, starts his campaign against Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata in what will be his first official tournament since losing to Sinner in the final of the 2024 Shanghai Masters in October.

Djokovic will also play doubles alongside Nick Kyrgios, who is making a competitive return after playing just one ATP Tour singles match in two years following knee, foot and wrist injuries.