Novak Djokovic appears to have no intention of retiring anytime soon. The newly-crowned Olympic champion has revealed his intention to defend the title at the Los Angeles Games.
Djokovic finally won gold at the fifth time of asking, ticking off his last remaining goal in tennis. He’s become just the fifth player in the sport’s history to achieve the so-called Golden Slam in singles – winning all four majors and the Olympics – after Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
While there’s nothing of note left for the 37-year-old to win, he’s still hungry for more success. And that includes becoming the first player to appear in six singles Olympic competitions come four years’ time in LA.
“I’ll try to make it to Los Angeles,” he said when speaking at Serbia’s celebration of their medallists in Belgrade on Monday. “I’d like to. The greatest pleasure is representing Serbia at the Olympic Games.
“For me, this is the realisation of a boyhood dream, the pressure to win the gold was huge because I won more or less everything. I feel fulfilled, complete, let’s celebrate.”
Unlike his rivals Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, Djokovic has remained largely injury free throughout his legendary career. Although his meniscus tear at the French Open could serve as a warning for the future.
It’s definitely not out of the question that he can continue playing until the age of 41. It would almost certainly see him move out ahead in the list of most all-time Grand Slam wins, which he currently tops alongside Margaret Court on 24.
He can achieve that at the US Open, which gets underway later this month. He’ll enter the final major of the year without any competitive hard-court preparation, though.
Djokovic withdrew from both last week’s Canadian Open and this week’s Cincinnati Open, presumably due to the quick turnaround from the Games. Carlos Alcaraz, who he beat for gold in Paris, will be in action in Cincinnati, looking to avenge his defeat from last year’s final.
Belle Vernon junior Gabby Dusi successfully defended her WPIAL Class AA Individual Singles Tennis Championship gold medal Thursday with a 6-1, 6-0, victory over
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