Novak Djokovic\u2019s 2025 US Open campaign concluded with a semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz, and tennis coaching legend Rick Macci has given his take on the great Serb\u2019s future in the sport.<\/p>\n
The tennis icon was beaten 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 by Alcaraz<\/a>, the world No 2 and a five-time Grand Slam champion. In the first two sets, Djokovic<\/a> competed well with the 22-year-old Spaniard, but he faded physically after losing the second on a tiebreak.<\/p>\n In 2025, Djokovic reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments \u2014 a remarkable achievement given he turned 38 in May.<\/p>\n While this feat of longevity only adds to Djokovic\u2019s unmatched legacy, he was unable to win a set in any of these semi-final matches, with physical limitations a consistent theme.<\/p>\n Prior to his defeat to Alcaraz in New York, Djokovic suffered straight-set losses to Jannik Sinner<\/a> in the last four at Wimbledon and the French Open.\u00a0At the Australian Open, Djokovic was forced to retire after losing a gruelling first set in his semi-final with Alexander Zverev due to a hamstring injury sustained in his quarter-final win over Alcaraz.<\/p>\n The Serbian won his 24th and most recent Grand Slam title two years ago at the 2023 US Open. His two titles since the start of 2024 came at last year\u2019s Paris Olympics and the 2025 Geneva Open.<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Macci<\/a> revealed why he does not think retirement is around the corner for Djokovic.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019ll keep playing simply because, once again, kind of like Venus [Williams] \u2014 but obviously it\u2019s different \u2013 he just loves the competition,\u201d said the American.<\/p>\n Are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz matching peak Djokovic, Nadal & Federer\u2019s level? Rick Macci weighs in<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Novak Djokovic\u2019s full press conference after US Open exit as he addresses his future, gassing out and having fun<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you want to put your body through that, get up every day, he has a family\u2026 you\u2019re not doing it for a paycheck! He just loves the competition. And I think if he feels he can win, okay, he\u2019ll continue to play.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Roland Garros, I don\u2019t know. I just think because the rallies are longer, you gotta bring your breakfast, lunch and dinner on red clay. It\u2019s a little different situation. Grass, to me, was his best shot.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, I think he\u2019ll keep playing because he loves the competition. But, the minute he doesn\u2019t play the Grand Slams; game, set, match \u2014 he\u2019ll call it a career.<\/p>\n \u201cBut as long as he still loves it and he feels he has a chance, he\u2019s gonna go for it. And never, ever, ever underestimate the heart of a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n Macci, who coached Venus and Serena Williams during their childhood, argued that the only way for Djokovic to win another major would involve luck with the draw and the health of Alcaraz and Sinner.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the only way he could win a Slam\u2026 it\u2019s not gonna happen on clay, it\u2019s just too physical, three out of five, I just think it\u2019s too much on the body,\u201d Macci assessed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if the draw would break correctly, I know that happens with anybody, but let\u2019s face it, if the draw broke correctly, if Alcaraz or Sinner got hurt, or you got a couple of walkovers\u2026 if things broke for him, absolutely [Djokovic could win].\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Rafael Nadal gives fascinating verdict on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner ahead of US Open final<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Why Novak Djokovic will \u2018keep playing\u2019 after US Open, according to Serena Williams\u2019 ex-coach<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Novak Djokovic\u2019s 2025 US Open campaign concluded with a semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz, and tennis coaching legend Rick Macci has given his take on the great Serb\u2019s future in the sport. The tennis icon was beaten 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 by Alcaraz, the world No 2 and a five-time Grand Slam champion. In the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}US Open News<\/h2>\n