"I want to be with my wife and children" - Novak Djokovic shares shocking lack of long-term career plans for the first time ever

Novak Djokovic recently shared that he had no long-term plan regarding his career. Djokovic was in Bulgaria to play an exhibition match against Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic was knocked out of the 2024 US Open in the third round against Alexei Popyrin. Since then, he has not played any tour-level matches. Ahead of the Sofia exhibition match during a press conference, the Serb said he had no long-term plan for his career and was 'living in the moment'.

"For the first time in my career, I have no long-term plans. I'm living for the moment and we'll see what happens. Today I will play in Sofia, then in China, and then at a demonstration tournament in Saudi Arabia. After that, I don't know. We'll see how I feel and judge," he said (via TennisKafe).

The 24-time Grand Slam champion said that spending time with his family, including his wife Jelena and children Tara and Stefan, was important.

"Family life is very important to me. I want to be with my wife and children, to be a part of their everyday life - something I haven't been able to do for many years. I have to balance things out, so we'll see. I still want to chase titles and records, but at the same time I have to be sensible and prioritize certain tournaments over others," he added.

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Novak Djokovic battles conflicting feelings about continuing to play and spending time with his family

Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena and children Stefan and Tara cheer on the Serb at the 2023 French Open (Image: Getty)

Novak Djokovic talked about the conflicting feeling of wanting to continue playing tennis while also spending more time with his young family. In an episode of Nick Kyrgios' talk show 'Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios', the Serb said:

“The little Novak, the four-year-old Novak, who started playing tennis in Kopaonik in Serbia, is still inside and still in love with the sport and is still so hungry for more. But at the same time, there’s probably this more mature Novak, father and a husband, that is, ‘Come on, man. There are other things in life as well’.”

Djokovic's last competitive match was at the 2024 Davis Cup, where he led Team Serbia into the Davis Cup 2025 qualifiers.