For those who think Novak Djokovic might lack motivation after winning his first Olympic gold medal earlier this month, the Serbian tennis legend has a message.

He knows a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title is within his sights and that he can accomplish it across the next two weeks at the U.S. Open.

“People would ask me, you know, now that you have basically won everything with the golden medal, what else is there to win?” Djokovic said Saturday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. “I still feel the drive. You know, I still have the competitive spirit. I still want to make more history and enjoy myself on the tour. I still hope to inspire many young people to watch tennis, play tennis.

“Those are some of the reasons why I still keep on going. Grand Slams are the pillars of our sport. They are ‘the’ most important historical tennis events that we have. So if you don’t get pumped and inspired to play your best tennis at Grand Slams, it’s hard to do that anywhere else.”

The 37-year-old was a no-show Friday at a practice event with Holger Rune in Arthur Ashe Stadium and there was a report that he was dealing with an injury scare, but the Serb made no mention of any problems on Saturday and was not asked directly about it. He did practice Friday for an hour with Rune on an outside court.

After not playing any hardcourt warm-up tournaments, he said he’s ready to go for his first-round match on Monday night against Radu Albot of Moldova.

“U.S. Open is a Slam that holds the biggest tennis court in the world, tennis stadium,” he said. “You know, night sessions at U.S. Open are very famous, most famous in our sport.

“I’m going to play my first match here Monday night, so I can’t wait to be under the lights. The noise, the energy of the stadium is just different from anything else.”

No U.S. Open men’s champion has defended his title since Roger Federer won the last of his five straight in 2008, and Djokovic is bidding to defend his title here for the first time.

“I mean, hopefully that changes this year,” he said. “I mean, that’s the goal. You know, the goal is always for me to try to go all the way to the finals and fight for the trophy. I mean, that kind of mindset or approach is no different for me this year.”

The No. 2 seed, Djokovic got a break with the draw in that No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz are in the other (top) half of the draw and could meet in the semifinals. Djokovic was drawn to meet No. 4 Alexander Zverev and would not have to play both Sinner and Alcaraz to win the title.

With Roger Federer retired and Rafael Nadal not playing the Open, Djokovic said he finds motivation in his rivalries with the younger players. Alcaraz is 21, Sinner 23.

“These kind of rivalries that I have with Jannik and Carlos, in particular, of course, along with other guys from the generation before, like, Zverev, [Daniil] Medvedev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, you know, are the kind of matchups that still bring that joy of competition to me and inspire me to really, on a weekly basis when I’m not competing, push myself to perfect the game and to give myself an ability to be able to run for hours with them on the biggest stage,” he said.

He has not played since winning the gold medal over Alcaraz on Aug. 4 and said he’s being more “selective” with his calendar.

“Of course I have to be a bit more selective in my strategy of calendar and how I pick and choose events and where I want to be at my prime and play the best tennis,” Djokovic said.

“So when it comes to that, it’s Grand Slams and representing my country. That’s what actually motivates me the most. That’s what drives me the most still.”

He said his work with the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is also a motivating factor for him at this stage of his career.

“I love being, you know, part of the tennis story, and PTPA that we talked about is also something that motivates me that… I have been working on for many years, even before it was founded, and tried always to advocate for players and even before that in the player council within the ATP structure,” he said.

“So I feel like it’s also part of my responsibility as being somebody who has a sound name and a status in sport, and a lot of players look up, you know, to me and Federer, Nadal, you know, the legends of the game, and they look for some kind of guidance and they carefully listen to our words and actions, and they hope to get that kind of leadership, as well.”

Chrissie Evert has suggested that Djokovic could retire if he passes Margaret Court with a record 25th major title in New York.

“I think if he wins the 25th major, I would think that he would leave the game,” Evert, who won 18 major singles titles during her career, said Tuesday on an ESPN conference call ahead of the start of the Open on Monday. “He’d break that tie with Margaret Court.”

Evert added: “I would allow him to retire after that. OK, you have everybody in the world’s permission to retire. That would be epic if he could do that. But he’s a very driven person beyond anybody that I’ve ever seen.”