Tennis
Former World No. 1 Chris Evert Claims Novak Djokovic Is Heading Towards Retirement
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Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished20 May 2025
Former world No. 1 Chris Evert believes that Novak Djokovic has ‘played his best tennis’ and that the Serbian is heading for retirement amid a poor start to the year.
Could 24-time record Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic soon announce his retirement from tennis? Former world No. 1 Chris Evert believes so, as she claims the 37-year-old has ‘played his best tennis’.
Djokovic, who recently confirmed his split from coach Andy Murray, has lost his first match in four of his last five tournaments and is due to play Márton Fucsovics in the Geneva Open last 16 on Wednesday.
The Belgrade-born star received a first round bye as the tournament’s second seed.
He’ll be hoping for a deep run into the event’s latter stages to gain some momentum and form ahead of the French Open, as he looks to stake a claim for a record-extending 25th major.
Chris Evert Says Novak Djokovic Is Heading For Retirement
Speaking to Express Sport, American tennis legend Evert said: “I think Mother Time or Father Time or whatever they call it, that’s not on Novak’s side. And I personally think he’s played his best tennis.”
Despite this belief, she refused to rule out another Grand Slam triumph for the Serbian, but maintained her doubts about whether he’d be able to do so at Roland-Garros in Paris.
“I would never count Novak out to win another major. My feeling is that he’d be better on the hard courts. He has a better hard-court record, better at Wimbledon. The French, I think, is his weakest Grand Slam.
“It’s tough to say goodbye, and it’s tough to retire, but you know, I personally feel it’s heading that way this year. It’s so hard. You don’t want to say, ‘No, you shouldn’t be playing’ this and that, because it’s such a personal decision.
“But I will say I think he’s played his best tennis, and that’s not to say he can still play that miracle, that epic match again, but on a day-to-day basis, that’s what you lose when you play 20 years on the tour.
“You just can’t be 100 per cent, and you can’t have your A-game every single day, and that’s what you lose. I think there are too many good players that can get him on an off day.”
The main draw for the French Open men’s and women’s singles events get underway on Sunday, 25 May, with the women’s singles final being played on Saturday, 7 June, while the men’s final will take place on Sunday, 8 June.