Will Djokovic hang up his racquet soon? German tennis icon and Serbian’s ex-coach Becker reacts: 'I think he’s...'

There has been plenty of speculation over Novak Djokovic’s future in the sport in recent months, with the 38-year-old having not won the elusive 25th Major for more than two years now. Djokovic had reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year, and has won ATP Tour titles in Geneva and Athens – taking his career title count to 101.

The 38-year-old has also indicated his desire to continue playing at the highest level of the sport until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where he will be defending the gold medal that he had won for the first time in Paris last year.

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Djokovic, however, has struggled to challenge the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have accounted for all the Grand Slam triumphs over the last two years. He has also admitted to struggling in best-of-five matches, which has cast a shadow over his participation in future Grand Slams starting with the Australian Open in January.

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Becker defends former mentee Djokovic amid retirement talk

German tennis legend Boris Becker, who had coached Djokovic from 2013 to 2016 and maintains close ties with the Serbian superstar, felt the veteran star had every right to continue playing in the ATP Tour for as long as he wanted, claiming he still is “important for tennis today”.

“Look, I think he’s important for tennis today,” six-time Grand Slam winner Becker told The Guardian. “He leads by example and shows the young players the amount of dedication you need to come to the top and then stay on top. He’s still chasing his 25th Grand Slam and reached all four major semi-finals this year and won two tournaments.

“Who are we to challenge Novak when to stop? I heard the other day that he wants to play at the Olympics in LA 2028. Let him. We need him.

“Whoever was playing against Novak Djokovic lost a lot of money for the last 20 years. So I’d never bet against Novak,” he added.

Djokovic had recent skipped the year-ending ATP Finals in Turin for the second successive year after winning the inaugural Hellenic Championships in Athens. He is expected to return to action at the Australian Open – the year’s first major that he has won a record 10 times – two months from now.