AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2026

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Novak, welcome back to Melbourne Park. This is the 21st time you compete at the AO, and you won 10 titles. What's so special about Melbourne and the fans here that brings the best out of you?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, happy new year to everyone. It's great to be back another time. 21st time is amazing. I mean, the amount of times I have been coming to Australia, I think for the first time qualified for any slam here, back in 2005, and played my first night session, Rod Laver, against Marat Safin, who later went on to win the Grand Slam title here.

So it's been a long journey, but very successful one. It's been my most successful Grand Slam, and I always love playing in Australia. You know, Happy Slam they call it for a reason.

You know, we all are motivated to kick-start the season in best possible way. Of course for me, you know, I try to not take any of the presented opportunities for granted, and hopefully get the best out of myself this tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Last year you managed some consistent results at the Grand Slams, despite the physical challenges you were presented with. I just wondered, given you have now had a little bit of time away from the courts, have you managed to get to the bottom of some of the physical issues? How do you feel at the moment?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, look, I ended up the season in the first week of November, so it's been a while since I played any competition, any official tournament.

You know, I took some time off, and obviously took more time to rebuild my body, because I understand that in the last couple of years, that's what changed the most for me is it takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover.

So, unfortunately, I had a little setback that prevented me to compete at Adelaide tournament. That's why I didn't go there physically, but it's been going on very well so far here.

Obviously every day there is something here and there for me and I guess for each one of us, but generally I feel good and look forward to competing.

Q. Obviously there has been so much focus in recent years about your pursuit of the 25th record slam. How much does that still drive you? Is it one where you just keep going until you can't go anymore?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about the 25th, but, you know, I try to focus myself on what I have achieved, not what I'm possibly achieving. I mean, I hope it comes to that, but 24 is also not a bad number. I have to appreciate that and remind myself of the amazing career I had.

And also, you know, release some of that unnecessary pressure. I mean, obviously there is always pressure and expectations, but, you know, I don't think it's, you know, needed for me to really go far in terms of, you know, make-it-or-break-it type of thing, you know, it's now-or-never type of mentality. I don't feel it's necessary. Neither does that allow me to excel and perform my best.

I'm just, as I said, grateful to have another shot, particularly here, a place where I won 10 Grand Slam titles and been consistently playing well and reaching the final stages. Last couple of years also semifinals, '24 semifinals, '25. Had a great win against Carlos in quarters last year.

Look, I know that when I'm healthy, when I'm able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together on a given day, I feel like I can beat anybody. If I don't have that self-belief and confidence in myself, I wouldn't be here definitely sitting here and talking to you guys or competing.

I still have the drive, and of course I understand that, you know, Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else. That's a fact, but that doesn't mean that nobody else has a chance. So I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.

Q. Welcome back. We all know how many titles you have won, some of your best matches in your career. Often we hear athletes when they are retire or where they're nearing the end of their career talk about the losses more than the wins. I wonder if there are any matches or events you think back on and think are lost opportunities?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Did you say athletes or tennis players?

Q. Athletes in general, you often hear them talk about the missed opportunities.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know if I would agree with that, because, you know, I mean, there is -- I guess it's divided between the group of athletes that maybe have certain regrets or, you know, because they haven't achieved certain thing or achievement or realized their goal or objective and then maybe have certain resentment towards that.

But then, you know, I think there is a big group of athletes, at least the ones I was looking up to or the ones I was listening when they spoke when they were retiring that were, you know, praising their career and being very, you know, happy and appreciative of what they have achieved.

So it's all a matter of perspective, of course. You know, it's an individual sport, so very highly competitive. I mean, I'm the last guy that should complain or regret about anything. I mean, I have broken pretty much any record there is to break in this sport, and I'm, you know, eternally grateful to tennis to give me the opportunity to travel the world and really, you know, live my dream, because this is my dream.

You know, so I'm still living my dream, to be honest. Yeah, I mean, achievements are there, one of the highest motivations that you can have, of course. That's a kind of a guiding star, but it's not the only motivation.

It's passion and love for the game. It's the interaction with people. It's the energy that you feel when you walk out on the court. That adrenaline rush, it's almost like a drug, to be honest.

I think that a lot of the top athletes from different sports can relate to that. I mean, I have been at least hearing them speak about that. It's, like, so addictive, you know, the feeling of competing.

So, yeah, I have been asked a lot about obviously when is the, you know, end date going to come for me, but, you know, I don't want to talk or think about it yet, because I'm here, I'm competing.

When that arrives and kind of becomes ripe in my head, I'll share it with you, and then we can all discuss on the farewell tour. But right now I'm still No. 4 in the world, still competing at the highest level, and I feel like there is no need to draw the attention to that discussion.

Q. As someone who has always had very strong opinions about the operations of the sport, how do you plan to have some influence over that moving forward, now that you're not a part of the PTPA anymore? How hard was that decision to come to to separate yourself?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it was hard, to be honest, because I'm one of the two co-founders, co-founders of the Canadian PTPA entity, that was nonprofit, along with Vasek, you know.

Both Vasek and I have put a lot of heart and soul and energy into founding the PTPA back in 2020 when it was officially founded, but it took years for me, even more years before when I attempted to do that a few times but didn't make it. Then obviously with Vasek's dedication and incredible energy, we managed to do it.

From the day one, the mission was clear. You know, we tried to have an association that would give a stronger player voice and that will hopefully be able to contribute to the expansion of the quantity of players that are able to live from this sport across all levels.

Particularly the first or second tier of professional tennis, because there are thousands of players around the world. You know, we sit here and talk about multi-million-dollar prize money winner check, but we don't talk about the base level. That's where, you know, the struggle is real.

So that was personally my intention, you know, back in the 2020 when we founded it. I was No. 1 in the world. You know, I always tried to use my voice, my platform, my influence for good, whenever I possibly could, you know, and basically use my platform for the low-ranked players and have their voices heard and their struggles and challenges.

I was in the player council obviously within the ATP, you know, structure. So I was president of that council for I think four or five years. I know how system works, and I still have the opinion that the system is failing us, and I think it has to change in terms of the structure, in terms of how it's set up, how it's led.

It was a tough call for me to exit the PTPA, but I had to do that, because I felt like my name was used, overused in pretty much every single article or communication channel. I felt like, you know, people, whenever they think about PTPA, they think it's my organization, which is a wrong idea from the very beginning. So this was supposed to be everyone, every player's organization across the board, men and women.

And I also didn't like the way the leadership was taking the direction of the PTPA, and so I decided to step out. Does that mean that I'm not supporting PTPA? No, I am. I am still wishing them all the best, because I think that there is room and there is a need for 100% players-only representation organization existing in our ecosystem.

So that's all. You know, going back to the lawsuit, as well, back in Miami, March last year, you know, it was partly I exited because of that, as well, because I didn't agree with everything that was in there, and I decided not to be one of the player plaintiffs. So that was also one of the big reasons.

It is what it is. As I said, you know, I hope they will continue to thrive, to exist, to grow, to develop. Hopefully players will be able to recognize the vision it has. Hopefully the vision will be clear for the people who are still in charge of PTPA.

You know, I don't see it as clear as it was in 2020, you know, but, you know, let's see what happens.

Q. You were saying the top two guys are far away from everyone else, but you were probably the closest at the Grand Slams last year than everybody else. It's surprising on paper, because you're 38. Wouldn't think you'd be the next-best challenger to these guys. What do you think you still have that makes you competitive and what everyone else below you three is missing to come close to these guys?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don't know what the others are missing, to be honest. I can speak on my own behalf. I'm missing a little bit of juice in my legs, to be honest, to be able to compete with these guys at the later stages of a Grand Slam.

But I'm definitely giving my best as I have in '25, and I think I have done very well and challenged them on their route to the title. I lost, yeah, three out of four slams against either Sinner or Alcaraz. We don't need to praise them too much. They have been praised enough (smiling). We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces of the men's tennis at the moment.

I'm still trying to be in the mix. Not rankings-wise, being No. 4 without really being focused on that, is also great, but you know, obviously I'm grateful to have the better ranking so that I could have eventually better draws in, you know, the first several rounds.

That doesn't affect the way I approach slam. You know, I know that my priority is really taking care of my body and trying to of course treat every match like it's finals, but at the same time, build momentum and also not spend unnecessary energy, you know, and hopefully I can go far again and get a chance to play them.

I mean, I would love to. I would love to have a chance to fight with one of those or maybe both of these guys here. Let's see. Let's see if that happens.