MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 24, 2025

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Novak, please.

(In Spanish.)

Q. A bit of a follow-up, you're saying Carlos and his level is already where you guys were or something. In terms of injuries and things like that, we used to come to the clay and Rafa used to sweep most of it, and maybe you would go on a run, things like that. Now it feels like this generation isn't really able to put that together, not because of level, but perhaps intensity, I don't know. In your opinion, do you see this next generation, do you see us ever witnessing the kind of, like you would win the first 40 matches of the year, or Roger would do that, or Rafa would sweep clay. Do you see that happening again, or is the game too physical?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well I take that as a compliment from you and for our generation, but, look, it's not something that is common, it happened once in every five seasons or something.

Yes, there was domination, obviously, from Rafa on clay, or Roger on grass, me on hard court would win, whatever, three, four years in a row, Indian Wells, Miami, back-to-back. But that also came, for me personally, that level of I guess dominant tennis and achievements, when I was 23, 24 years old and then after that. So between, let's say, 23 and 33 is when it was really happening. And now Carlos is still not 23.

We have to remember that his age and what he has done for his age is not also normal. I'm sure that we'll see a lot of him on the big stage with trophies in the future in, whatever, 10 years, 15 years, as long as he's playing.

I mean, the competition is always there. I think every generation has its different competition. It's hard to compare eras. The last 20 years was dominated mostly by the four of us, and, you know, obviously when the three of my biggest rivals retired, you know, you can feel there's a shift, not only in terms of the generations of players that are kind of now, all of a sudden, the main focus and attention is on them. But it's just, you know, I guess it takes a little bit of time for people to accept the fact that Roger and Rafa are not playing, and Murray, and I guess one day myself, but I'm still trying to stay there and represent the older guys, the older generation. Hopefully that brings the positive effect to the tournaments and to the tour itself.

That's also one of the reasons why I keep on playing is because I feel like it also helps tennis still thrive on the attention and crowd coming in and watching tournaments and getting interested. If you see the numbers actually of the attendance in the Grand Slams as well and some, like Indian Wells, it's record-breaking crowd in the last few years. Which is good news that it shouldn't be dependent on the big stars or legends of the game that retired. It should be, it should, the sport should outlive everyone, the sport will outlive everyone, and the sport is more important than anybody individually. So we are all here in the service of a sport as well.

I think this is something to keep in mind that, you know, when you play and all the things that you're doing outside of the court as a top player, you are trying to contribute to the popularity of the tennis, to bring more people, bring young children and people to tennis, and get interested and excited about tennis. Which I see happening, but, you know, I think we still have a big steps to make in that regard. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Q. I'm writing a piece about dropshots, and I'm particularly curious with you about the counter drop shot, when someone dropshots you and you have to chase it down and come up with quality, like an angle on a dropshot, you're better at getting them than pretty much anyone.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I used to be. Dropshots haven't been that great the last few years (laughing.)

Q. How challenging is that shot, the counter dropshot, and what's the key to it?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well I think it depends where you play and in which kind of particular situation you're in. Obviously when the ball's trajectory is dropping down almost to hit the ground before the second bounce, normally the choice that you have there is to play a short, cross court counter, you know, counter dropshot if you want, or counter dropshot with the back spin, which is a very difficult shot to execute, but it's a very good choice if the opponent is staying on the baseline.

But that's a decision that is made in a split second, you know, like tens of a split of a second. It's really almost with a prophetic vision of understanding where it is the position of your opponent. If you see him moving forward, then in the last second you, instead of doing counter dropshot, maybe you just try to push the ball deep and close the net. Tennis is a sport of really fine margins, and those split-second decisions are normal in a way for us, and we have to, our brain has to work really fast to be able to make these decisions. It is sometimes cat and mouse, really, of kind of a strategic, tactical play between the two opponents. It's good to see. But on clay I think that counter dropshot is a pretty good choice, to be honest. Even on grass I feel, you know, if you're able to really play it well with the right rotation, it's a good shot.

Q. Can I just ask, coming up is 10 years since your French Open final with Stan. I just wondered where that ranks of best performance by someone against you that you've ever witnessed, and your memories of that match.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: On the big stage, yeah, of course. I mean, that was, you know, one of the toughest losses for me because by that time I still haven't won Roland Garros, and that was, I don't know which final for me already. And I thought, I'm not playing Rafa for a change in the finals, and I, you know, I liked my chances to win my first French Open title. But then Stan stole it from me, and he played some incredible tennis.

We still joke around telling that the reason why he played so well is because of the shorts. I don't know how many of you remember that famous shorts that he was wearing, and he came up with the post-finals press conference with that shorts and I really hated him since then (smiling). But, no, we're good buddies, of course I joke. He's an incredible player, someone I really admire as a person as well.

I think he's very underestimated in the discussions. He's won gold medal Olympics, he's won three Grand Slams, and, yeah, just an amazing career. He's 40 years old, with God knows how many surgeries on the knees and everything, and he's still pushing, still coming in, still coming in early in the tournament. Showing up, one of the first people that shows up in the club, and practices early, and does everything that he needs to do, even more. So that's super impressive. I really admire him and Andy as well for that, you know, going to the Challenger level, trying to build your rankings, trying to get matches. You know, I never, I mean, I've never done that, never was in that position that I have to, hopefully don't need to, build rankings again back to go to Challenger level. But I really admire that. That says a lot about champion spirit and mentality that these guys have.

Q. Juan Martin del Potro said that he would be willing to be a coach if he was on your team, is that possible or you're fine with your team now?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well for now I'm fine, but you never know. I mean, he's a great friend, and someone that I really like a lot as a person, his values, his family. We had a fantastic time in Argentina for his farewell match. I was very honored to be the last player he's going to play with.

He was in Miami watching my matches, more than few, from the box, so that was also exciting, because I really admire his tennis as well and the way he played it. We talked a little bit about the game, and it was very interesting to listen to him, to see how he observes the game. So, you never know, let's see. I'm a young player, I have a lot of time, so, you know, I have many years to think about it (smiling).

Q. Yesterday was released here in Spain the Carlos Alcaraz documentary, and it's like a kind of a debate around the sentence he said there of being a slave of the game, focus hundred percent on tennis. So I would like to know, how is slave, if that's a word, how do you feel yourself to achieve what you have achieved in tennis?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I understand that that's a little bit of a harsh word to describe the feeling of being locked by the game in some way, the game of life or the game of profession of the sport. But I do understand why he said it, because it's an individual sport, and it requires a hundred percent, really a hundred percent of your physical, but also mental and emotional energy involved in the life of a tennis player, which is much more than just hitting a tennis ball on the court.

So it takes a lot of your time from your year, or years of your life. You know, it's okay, because at the end of the day it's your choice. Not everyone has a choice, of course, a lot of the people are suffering in the other areas of life, and we know that, so I don't want this to sound that we are very arrogant or something like this, pretentious. But, you know, we are blessed to be able to do what we do.

You know, most of us love tennis, love the sport, and we fell in love as kids, and here we are playing on the highest level, speaking in front of full media room, and it's, of course, a lot of positivity that comes from that. You have a lot of rewards for that.

But of course it's not easy. You know, you have a lot of challenges, and one of them is the season length of the tennis, which is the longest of any sport in the world, global sport. It starts in January, ends up in almost end of November. So it's, I mean, for me, it has always been really long, particularly in the last few years with some changes, and the two-weeks, almost two-weeks long 1000 events. Now we essentially don't have four Grand Slams we have maybe 12 Grand Slams, you know, when you think about it, because every Grand Slam is two weeks, and now you have 1000 events that are also almost two weeks. So it's a lot, it's a lot of the time that you spend on the road not seeing maybe your family or not being at home.

It depends on the person or the player, but of course it drains you a lot. It gives you opportunity to do your work, of course, and a profession, and to do your, or to be, how can I say, thankful that you are doing something you're passionate about and you're successful in it. But at the same time there's the other side as well.

So I understand why he said it, but maybe he used a little bit of a harsh word to describe it.