US OPEN

August 29, 2026

Novak Djokovic

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Novak, with all the milestones you've reached, what are your thoughts on playing in your 20th US Open, a mark that only three other men have accomplished?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I'm very proud of that. Obviously longevity was always one of the goals when I was younger, trying to have long career, trying to have more shots at Grand Slams, and stay healthy long enough so that I can perform for as many years as possible.

So it's great to know that I'm back at slams 20 years in a row. I've seen it somewhere there's like three, four of us that played I think back in 2006. I think it was Wawrinka, Monfils could be, and Cilic. So it's nice to kind of turn back the time.

I actually think that I played in my first US Open against Monfils, a five-setter, and here we are 20 years later, we're both still grinding and representing the older generation (smiling).

Q. I wanted to ask you about The Wolf in Winter, participating in the process, to see your story be told in that format.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah, I'm proud to be able to present to the world my story, and for the first time in this kind of format. It took years, you know, to finalize and accomplish this project.

But, you know, it was not an independent project. It was done with Amazon Prime, and I'm thankful for their support and willingness to partner in this project, and Jason, who was the director of Last Dance, obviously has made a great success with Michael's documentary and coming onboard and willing to tell my story through his lens was great.

As I said, kind of a first and unique experience for me. I personally feel this is just the start. I mean, I would like to go deeper on many different topics. Hopefully there is more interest and more, you know, hunger for exploring different aspects of my career. From what I'm hearing and what I'm reading, there is.

So I'll be open to do that maybe in a slightly different format, in a series format. Because there's a lot that can and I want to be, you know, shared with the public. But in 90-minutes' format it was really hard to congest everything, to try to tell the whole story, but a lot of things were left out or maybe were given a very short time in the documentary.

Nevertheless, you know, being in the kind of epicenter of this story it's hard for me to be objective. I'm quite biased and subjective about it. So I leave the feedback, so to say, and the opinions to others.

So far I've been hearing mostly positive feedback, which is nice. It's nice to hear that. But it was a different experience for me, because I was not really used to having cameras at home with my family going about their or our, you know, life at home.

You know, someone kind of being part of that household and asking you quite personal, you know, deep questions on the mental state and whatnot. It was challenging for me in a certain way to kind of open up and to create space for that, but I also learned that that's probably the best way to present the story in a most authentic way, which I respect. And when I look at the other documentaries, I always like to see that raw, untold authentic original story of an athlete or whoever you're trying to present.

Q. You have gone through your career, you talked about longevity and you've been able to sort of stay healthy, flexible, and create systems for yourself that work for your body. Currently in this sport we're seeing a lot of maybe injuries a lot more often and there's talk about the schedule. Have you ever thought of maybe sharing your methods or even talking to some other athletes about what you have done to help prevent that to maybe help them as well?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I've been doing that for years with athletes directly. Athletes, I purposely say "athletes" because there's athletes from different sports that reach out. I'm still communicating with, I'm not going to name names because out of privacy and respect, but I've been doing that for years, absolutely.

Whether it's me sharing or me asking also for advices, guidance, and just interactions with other athletes, because I feel like you can always learn. That's kind of an open mindset I have. You can always learn, particularly from people who are like-minded or in the same industry like you and who go through similar experiences.

So when it comes to sharing that in a more structured way through different formats of maybe media or whatever it is or book, yes, absolutely. We're working on that. It's going to come up in the near future.

Q. So far you've played a little over a handful of tournaments this season, a few of the 1000s you've played outside of the slams maybe you didn't go as far as maybe you hoped for. But that said, you still enjoyed a lot of success. Do you feel like at this stage of your career, does it make much of a difference, say, for example, like last week, Cincinnati, like early loss? What is your opinion on that?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I mean, I don't like early losses anywhere, to be honest, but it gave me time to be preparing for US Open in a most adequate way. I had, you know, almost few weeks, actually two weeks, to really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what's coming up.

So it remains to be seen. I mean, if you ask me if I'm prepared, I feel like I am, you know, as best as I can be, but it's different training and then getting out on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and playing best-of-five. You don't normally play best-of-five on the practice sessions.

So let's see. Let's see how it goes. The opening matches are always for me, particularly in the last few years, quite challenging. So hopefully I can overcome, you know, the first hurdle and build from there.

Q. Many players are retiring this year. Among them, I'd like to ask about the Asian star, Kei Nishikori. Can you share your opinion about his tennis or his personality?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I've said it many times in the past that Kei is one of the most talented players that I faced, that I have seen play. Incredible footwork, so quick, so comfortable being aggressive and being close to the line and playing equally fast and well and accurate on all surfaces.

He was a very tough opponent to face. It's just unfortunate that he has struggled with his injuries so much in his career. I'm sure that he would achieve even more things if he was a bit more healthier than he was in his career.

So I wish him all the best in his retirement. Obviously he has created history for Japanese tennis and sport, and, you know, he and his family and his people should be proud of everything he's achieved.