Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates winning against Denmark’s Holger Rune during their men’s singles … More
Novak Djokovic has reached the last six Wimbledon finals, but he has not lifted the trophy at The All-England Club since 2022.
The 38-year-old Serb has lost the last two finals to Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 2 who is coming off winning the French Open in dramatic fashion over No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
With Djokovic set to faces Alexandre Muller in his first-round match on Tuesday, he said Wimbledon remains his best chance at winning a record 25th major and he’s not sure if this will be his “last dance.”
“My wish is to play for several more years. I would love to be healthy physically and also mentally motivated to keep on playing at the highest level. That’s the goal, but you never know at this stage.
“I would probably agree that Wimbledon could be the best chance because of the results I had, because of how I feel, how I play in Wimbledon, just getting that extra push mentally and motivation to, yeah, perform the best tennis at the highest level.”
Seven of Djokovic’s 24 major titles have come at Wimbledon, and one more win would tie him with Roger Federer for the most ever.
Djokovic could face British No. 1 and world No. 4 Jack Draper in the quarterfinals and Sinner in the semis, while another potential matchup with Alcaraz could loom in the final.
Djokovic reached the semis at the Australian Open, retiring against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring tear after beating Alcaraz in the quarters.
At Roland Garros, Djokovic lost to Sinner in straights in the semis and then conceded he may have played his “farewell match” in Paris.
As the No. 6 seed in London, Djokovic enters with his lowest seeding since 2018.
“In a sense you’re always hunting because you’re always going for the titles, the records and more history,” he said.
“I do feel I’m always in that position of going for something with attitude of trying to win rather than trying to defend. Even though I have been many times in my career in that position whether it’s the defending champion or being No. 1 in the world, you feel slightly different because I feel everyone wants your position and stuff.
“I would say it’s slightly different for me now in terms of I don’t chase the rankings anymore in that regard. I’m trying to play the best tennis in Grand Slams and trying to win them. That hasn’t changed. It still stays the same.
“Even though my level of tennis has been going quite up and down and fluctuating much more than it was the case for the most part of my career, if you see the last year and a half, I’ve been kind of volatile with my results. Grand Slams stays quite consistent. These tournaments still give me the biggest drive still. I’ll try to have a very good tournament and go as far as I can.”