"What are you doing? This is not the time" - When Novak Djokovic's wife claimed he wanted to retire from tennis in 2018

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic's wife Jelena once claimed that her husband wanted to quit tennis in 2018.

Djokovic has enjoyed a glittering tennis career, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in history. However, he has also faced his fair share of rough patches, especially in 2017, when he was dealing with elbow issues.

The Serb returned to action in 2018 but did not have the best of starts to his season. He suffered a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open and second-round exits in Indian Wells and Miami.

His wife Jelena told journalist Graham Bensinger in an interview in 2022 that the Serb wanted to quit tennis after his disappointing loss to Benoit Paire at the 2018 Miami Open. However, everyone who was present at the time disagreed, insisting to Djokovic that it was not the right time for him to quit.

"He said to me that he's quitting, and that's the truth. He lost in Miami and that was a terrible loss and then, he just gathered all of us inside, 'You know what guys, I'm done.' We cried and we were like 'What are you doing? This is not the time,'" she said.

Novak Djokovic's wife further said she took her children to play tennis when the family was on holiday. After seeing his family have fun on the court, the Serb asked if he could play too.

"We went on a holiday together and then I was playing because when he decides he doesn't want to play tennis, he doesn't want to see tennis, he doesn't want to have anything to do with tennis, and I love tennis," she said.

"I kept taking the kid with me to play tennis, and then he showed up on the third or fourth day, and he saw me and Stefan is collecting the balls. We are playing on the court, it's fun, it's not just a practice, which is what he is used to seeing, and luckily he saw how much we were having fun and how much we were enjoying being on the court, and then he was like 'Can I have a racquet please?'" she added.

Djokovic initially hit a few balls and then began playing regularly, before deciding to bring back Marian Vajda as his coach.

"I'm like, 'No you're not playing anymore, you quit tennis,so leave the court, it's our time. I'm teasing him of course, and then Stefan says 'Ok Daddy, it's your turn now', and then he took a few balls and started," Jelena Djokovic said.

"After that, he was coming every single day, and the last day he said, 'I'm going to call Marian. I'm going to ask him to come back,'" she added.

Jelena Djokovic on Novak deciding to quit in 2018. byu/R0otDroid intennis

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Novak Djokovic has won 12 Grand Slam titles since 2018

Novak Djokovic pictured with his 2023 US Open trophy

Novak Djokovic had already won 12 Grand Slam titles by the time he lost in the second round of the 2018 Miami Open. He has clinched another 12 since then.

Djokovic won Wimbledon and US Open in 2018 before claiming the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2019. In 2020, he successfully defended his title at the Melbourne Major.

2021 was a memorable season for him as he won three Majors. The Serb was in contention to win the Calendar Slam before losing the US Open final to Daniil Medvedev.

Though 2022 saw Djokovic compete in just two Grand Slam tournaments, he still managed to win Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic has had a stellar 2023 season so far, winning all the Majors except for the Wimbledon Championships.