Novak Djokovic’s US Open run is over, as he has once again been defeated in the semi-final of a Grand Slam.
He is the first man to ever lose at this stage of every major in a single calendar year, and it is a testament to his relentless consistency, despite his age, that he has accomplished this feat.
However, he simply does not have the required physicality to compete with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner anymore, and that was brutally exposed earlier tonight.
It’s such a shame for the 38-year-old, who engaged in some fierce rallies with the man 16 years his junior.
Alas, the record will show a straight-sets defeat, which has prompted many to ponder his potential retirement.
Novak Djokovic’s retirement tournament predicted
Many felt like, after he had won the Olympic gold medal and effectively completed tennis, he would slowly remove himself from the sport.
However, whilst his schedule has been reduced slightly, he remains an ever-present figure at the latter stages of Grand Slam tournaments.
Despite this, his continued defeats to the world’s best players led Rennae Stubbs to make a bold prediction live on ESPN: “I think this was a very good indicator for him that, unfortunately, Father Time is catching up.
“The power that Carlos Alcaraz possesses out there, the speed that he has, so does Sinner. We saw it at Wimbledon, we saw it here today. I think that Novak’s starting to realise that maybe just maybe his best isn’t quite good enough anymore at 38 years of age.
“I think the Australian Open might be his last tournament. I’m just throwing it out there. I just think he knows that these two are just a little bit better and younger than him now.”
Sam Querrey added: “I mean, it’s still an incredible year to make the semi-finals at all four majors. He was probably, like John said, maybe the third-best player this year.
“But it’s got to be a little defeating as well not to get to a final, so look, time will tell. We’ll see if he’s down in Australia in four or five months.”
John McEnroe predicted if he thinks Djokovic will retire too, as a topic of conversation that will likely dominate the headlines in the coming weeks.
Will Novak Djokovic be satisfied with being the third-best player in the world?
Whilst Novak Djokovic’s 2025 season would have been enough for 99% of the ATP tour, for someone of his stature, it might not be enough.
After all, he is used to regularly competing at the top of the sport for the titles, rather than just making deep runs.
If he is content with his new role in tennis, being the third-best player in the world, then Djokovic is sorted.
However, it doesn’t seem like the kind of contented position that he will be happy to slump into.
If he is not at the pinnacle, retirement seems like a very real possibility.
