Novak Djokovic's wife replied 'no' after tearful family meeting about retirement

Daily Mirror

10-07-2025

Novak Djokovic's tennis career has been littered with incredible highs and crushing lows, with the Serbian legend even coming close to retiring before bouncing back to win 12 more Grand Slam titles
Novak Djokovic came alarmingly close to calling time on his legendary tennis journey before making a stunning resurgence that saw him capture 12 more Grand Slam crowns. Back in 2018, the now 38-year-old had only secured half of his major championships haul, and a combination of recurring injuries and growing frustration with the sport led him to split from his coach at the time, Andre Agassi.
A turning point came when he suffered several surprising defeats, beginning with a fourth-round loss to Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open. That result pushed him to undergo surgery on his elbow, a lingering issue from the previous season.
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His return to the circuit was anything but smooth, with early exits including a shocking loss to qualifier Taro Daniel at Indian Wells and a second-round defeat to Benoit Paire in Miami. These discouraging results prompted Djokovic to gather his inner circle - along with his wife, Jelena Djokovic - to announce he was prepared to walk away from the sport.
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He later opened up about that crossroads moment in a heartfelt discussion with former Premier League footballer Slaven Bilic on the show 'Failure of the Champion', where he shared how a visit to the Dominican Republic shifted his outlook.
Jelena recounted this emotional chapter in a 2020 conversation with journalist Graham Bensinger, stating: "After that match, he wanted to quit. He gathered all the members of his team and told them, 'You know what, I'm done, I'm quitting.'
"We cried and told him that he couldn't do it, that it wasn't the right time. He didn't want to play tennis, and he didn't even want to see a ball pass in front of him."
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Jelena revealed that her husband was so disillusioned, he instructed his then-agent, Edoardo Artaldi, to notify sponsors like Lacoste about his decision to put his career on hold. "It was a terrible loss," she said.
"And then he just, you know, gathered all of us and said, 'You know guys, I'm done.' And I was like, 'What?' And he goes like, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Edoardo, you can speak with my sponsors.
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"'I want to be clear with them. I don't know if I'm stopping for six months, a year, or forever. Just tell them if they feel like sticking around they can. If they don't, I'm happy. I just want to make sure everybody is OK with this.'"
But ultimately, it was Jelena and their kids, Stefan and Tara, who reignited his desire to return. "He didn't want to know anything about it," Jelena said. "But I love tennis and I take the kids to the court every day. On the third day, Novak arrived.
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"He saw we were having fun, and it wasn't the intense training he was accustomed to for years. Novak asked me if he could play and get a racket, but I refused.
"I started teasing him, saying he had quit and now it was our turn to play tennis. Eventually, he served and felt good, then returned daily until he finally called his coach Marian Vajda to start training again."
His decision to resume playing became one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history, as he added 12 more major titles (and counting) to his resume, reaching a staggering 24 Grand Slams. He's still going after a record-breaking 25th, but has reached just one major final since 2023.
After being knocked out of this year's French Open, Djokovic suggested he may never play at Roland Garros again, with retirement looming. "This could have been the last match I ever played here, so I don't know," he told the fans after his defeat to Jannik Sinner.
"That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end. But if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd."
Djokovic is still in the hunt for No. 25, but must beat world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and likely Carlos Alcaraz to do it at Wimbledon this year. He faces Sinner in the last four on Friday, and victory there will set up a final clash against either Alcaraz or Taylor Fritz.