Rafael Nadal is not present at Roland Garros, and the Iberian recently announced that 2024 will likely be the last year of his career. Ahead of his second Grand Slam debut of the year, Novak Djokovic has opened up about how his big rival’s announcement has affected him, as well as the physical issues he has been dealing with recently.

Rafael Nadal’s announcement made Novak Djokovic think about ending his career

Djokovic joked when asked about the timing of his retirement from tennis, but that changed at the Serb’s first press conference in Paris.

“It made me think about my career and how long I’m going to play. I’m not going to make any announcements today yet, but as I thought about it, I also felt a little moved by what he said. The news that 2024 will be the last year in Nadal’s career caught me by surprise.

It’s true that he’s a year older and has had more injuries than me, but we’re basically the same generation and we’ve spent so many years together on the track.

I think John McEnroe said he felt a part of him stayed with Bjorn Borg when the Swede decided to retire at 26. When I heard the news about Nadal, this quote from John came to mind

I’m not going to lie to you and say I haven’t thought about my retirement and what that will look like, but I still have fuel in the tank. We’ll see how long it takes, I don’t have a date or anything… It depends on how I feel physically,” Novak Djokovic at Tennis Majors.

Novak Djokovic, physical challenges and motivation presented by Grand Slam titles

Nole admitted he is not recovering as quickly as before, but says he is still motivated to win more Grand Slam titles and represent his country at the competition.

“When I said it’s not the same, I mean the way my body reacts, it’s not what it was 10 years ago. I used to recover much faster.

Now I have more and more difficulties, I feel pain more often and something happens almost every week. I don’t know how motivated I will be, given that and the fact that I’ve already accomplished almost everything there is to accomplish in the world of tennis.

I will be very honest with you, I have been asked several times how long I will feel the competitive fire. The desire is still there, but things can change quickly.

I am 36 years old, I have been a professional for 20 years. I don’t like to look at age as a deciding factor, I pay attention to my overall condition and whether I like it.

History is at stake and has been going on for more than five years. At almost every tournament, it’s like, “oh, now you can do this or break that record.” I think I’ve broken a lot of records, but that’s what keeps me going.” – Novak Djokovic for great tennis.

What you need to know about Roland Garros 2023

• Novak Djokovic (the 3rd seed) will make his debut at Roland Garros on Monday. In the first round, the Serb will play against the American Alexander Kovacevich (114 ATP). The match will be the second at the Philippe-Chatrier Arena and will start around 2:00 p.m.

• It will be the first time since 1998 that neither Roger Federer (retired) nor Rafael Nadal (injured after the Australian Open) will be on court in Paris.

• Other notable absentees from this year’s edition of the main event in Paris include Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray, Matteo Berrettini, Marin Cilic and Pablo Carreño Busta.