Novak Djokovic does not need to see Serena Williams win another Grand Slam to be impressed by her return to professional tennis. For him, coming back at 44 after nearly four years away is already enough.
“Serena is an inspiration. Serena is epic,” Djokovic told PEOPLE while discussing his new Prime Video documentary, Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter. He praised Williams for returning after becoming a mother of two and again attempting to compete at Grand Slam level.
Williams began her comeback in doubles in June before returning to Grand Slam singles at Wimbledon. She has since reunited with Venus Williams in Cincinnati, played mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open and accepted another wild card to compete alongside Venus in the women’s doubles draw in New York.
The comparison also pushed the conversation toward Djokovic’s future. At 39, he would like to continue through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but he says longevity is no longer only a question of whether his body can withstand professional tennis. Family time increasingly matters in the calculation as well.
‘Serena Is an Inspiration. Serena Is Epic’
Djokovic’s admiration is not tied to Williams reaching a particular round or collecting another trophy. “Regardless of what she does, it’s already incredibly inspiring,” he told PEOPLE, arguing that tennis should appreciate simply having her back.
Williams stepped away from professional competition after the 2022 US Open and returned in June, making her comeback in doubles at Queen’s Club. Between those appearances, she welcomed her second daughter, Adira, in 2023, another part of the comeback Djokovic specifically referenced when discussing its scale.
During that Wimbledon press conference, Djokovic said he had repeatedly seen Williams in the gym and interpreted the work as evidence of how seriously she was approaching the comeback. He said the effort required after years away made the attempt admirable regardless of the eventual results.
The two champions spent much of their careers accumulating major titles in parallel. Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles championships, the Open Era women’s record, while Djokovic has 24.
Wimbledon Put Williams Back in Grand Slam Singles
Williams’ Wimbledon appearance marked her first singles match since the 2022 US Open. Playing on Centre Court after receiving a wild card, she pushed 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint to three sets before Joint won 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3.
Williams injured her knee during the match and later withdrew from the women’s doubles event, where she had been scheduled to reunite with Venus. The withdrawal delayed what would have been the sisters’ first doubles match together since the 2022 US Open.
It did not end Williams’ comeback. She returned later in the summer and eventually got another opportunity to share the court with Venus at the Cincinnati Open. The sisters lost their opening match to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
New York then provided Williams with another stage. She partnered Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open’s revamped mixed-doubles championship, beating Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool before Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli eliminated them in the quarterfinals.
Serena and Venus Are Set to Play Together Again at the US Open
The Williams sisters have another New York reunion ahead. The WTA confirmed on Aug. 26 that Serena and Venus received a wild card into the US Open women’s doubles draw. They have won 14 Grand Slam doubles championships as a team, including US Open titles in 1999 and 2009. Their previous Grand Slam doubles appearance together came in New York in 2022.
The upcoming doubles appearance gives Serena another opportunity to extend a comeback that began without any guarantee of where it would lead. At Queen’s Club in June, she returned alongside Victoria Mboko and won her first professional match in nearly four years. Wimbledon brought her back into singles, and the summer has since expanded into Cincinnati and the US Open.
Djokovic Wants 2028, but Family Is Part of the Decision
Asked whether he could imagine competing at Williams’ age, Djokovic did not frame the decision around fitness alone. “It doesn’t depend only on the body,” he told PEOPLE. Djokovic said that continuing a career as an individual athlete inevitably requires family members to support a schedule centered around that athlete, and he has become increasingly conscious of the important moments he could miss by staying on tour.
Djokovic and his wife, Jelena, have two children, Stefan and Tara. In the same interview, he described Jelena as his “rock” and acknowledged that his long absences have required her to help their children deal with having their father away for tournaments.
Retirement questions have followed Djokovic with increasing frequency as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and other defining figures of his generation have left professional tennis. Djokovic admitted the constant questions can annoy him, partly because he does not yet know the answer himself. He does have a target. “I’d like to play till Olympics ’28, which is in two years,” Djokovic told PEOPLE. “But let’s see.”
‘The Wolf in Winter’ Looks Beyond Djokovic’s Records
Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter began streaming globally on Prime Video on Aug. 20. Directed by The Last Dance filmmaker Jason Hehir, the feature-length documentary follows Djokovic from a childhood shaped by war and economic hardship in Yugoslavia through a professional career that produced 24 Grand Slam singles titles, an Olympic gold medal and a record 428 weeks at world No. 1.
The film also moves away from match results to examine the sacrifices surrounding that career. Jelena appears alongside tennis figures including Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Jim Courier.
Djokovic has said he wanted the documentary to communicate ideas that extend beyond tennis, including resilience, perseverance, family, teamwork and belief in oneself. Its timing also places the film at the point in his career when questions about what comes after professional competition are becoming more difficult to avoid.
He told PEOPLE that retirement from the professional tour would not mean abandoning tennis itself. Djokovic said that whenever he does stop competing at the highest level, he intends to keep playing recreationally with his children, wife, brothers and others because his relationship with the sport extends beyond competition.
His US Open Bid Ended in a First-Round Upset
Djokovic’s pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam title ended in the first round of the US Open on Aug. 30, when Argentina’s Mariano Navone defeated him 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a four-hour, 36-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic struggled physically throughout the match, vomiting and dealing with cramping as well as back and shoulder problems. Although he recovered from losing the first set to take a two-sets-to-one lead, his condition deteriorated during the final two sets.
The defeat was Djokovic’s first opening-round loss at the US Open and his first first-round exit from any Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open.
Afterward, Djokovic said the physical problems were not limited to one bad night and acknowledged that similar issues had followed him during the season. Asked whether he knew how to solve them, his answer was considerably less certain than his 2028 target: “I don’t know. I’m trying, man. I’m trying.”