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Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife
Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife
Novak Djokovic actually decided to quit tennis in 2018 before a tearful plea from his family and team inspired a U-turn that saw him go on to win 12 more Grand Slam titles
Novak Djokovic relaxes with his wife Jelena Djokovic
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Novak Djokovic had previously decided to hang up his racket and informed his sponsors that he would be ending his tennis career, before a change of heart saw him sweep up an additional 12 Grand Slam titles.
Back in 2018, with half of his major titles under his belt, the sceptre of disillusionment loomed over the Serb, following recurrent injuries and the end of his coaching partnership with Andre Agassi.
The shock fourth-round exit to Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open was succeeded by elbow surgery for Djokovic, disrupting a career plagued by injury since the previous year. His return to the courts wasn't without setbacks; a loss to Taro Daniel at Indian Wells struck another blow.
A subsequent defeat by Benoit Paire at the Miami Masters was Djokovic's tipping point, prompting a heart-to-heart with his team and wife, Jelena Djokovic, where he expressed his resolve to retire. In a candid interview with Slaven Bilic titled 'Failure of the Champion', Djokovic recounted how a transformative break in the Dominican Republic helped him overturn his retirement decision.
In a 2020 conversation with journalist Graham Bensinger, Jelena relayed the gripping tale: "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."
Djokovic was so devastated that his wife recalls a time following a significant loss when he instructed his then-agent Edoardo Artaldi to inform his sponsors, including Lacoste, about potentially ending his career. "It was a terrible loss," she said, reports the Express.
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"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.
"'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.'".
Yet, it was Djokovic's family, especially his wife and their children, Stefan and Tara, who became his motivation to reconsider retirement. Jelena mentioned how despite his initial reluctance, being around the sport casually through his family reignited his passion for tennis.
"He didn't want to know anything about it," she explained. "But I love tennis and I take the kids to the court every day. On the third day, Novak arrived.
"He saw we were having fun and that it wasn't a workout like what he had been used to for years. When Novak asked me if he could play and get a racket, I initially refused.
"I started teasing him and told him that he had given up. That now it was our turn to play tennis. But eventually, he served, felt good, and then he returned each day until deciding to call his coach Marian Vajda to renew training."
After a career-defining U-turn that led to an additional 12 Grand Slam titles and a record-breaking total of 24, the tennis legend's pursuit of a 25th triumph at the French Open came to a halt in the semi-finals, with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner besting him in straight sets.
Post-match, the 38 year old sportsman sparked speculation about his future at Roland Garros with a poignant show of appreciation towards the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier and a meaningful touch of the clay.
Reflecting on the moment during his press conference, he confessed: "This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know."
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He continued, expressing his emotions: "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."
