Novak Djokovic targeting more success after 24th Grand Slam win at US Open – ‘I am going to keep going!’

Novak Djokovic won a 24th Grand Slam with victory at the US Open on Sunday, and the Serbian has already turned his attentions to next season.

The win sees Djokovic pull two clear of Rafael Nadal’s total of 22 Grand Slam wins, and four clear of the retired Roger Federer.

And in an ominous warning to his rivals, Djokovic says he feels in good enough shape to add further slams to his roll of honour.

“I’m going to keep going. You know, I feel good in my own body. I still feel I got the support of my environment, of my team, of my family,” he said.

“Grand Slams, I have vocalised that in the last few years, have been always the highest goal and the priority of mine in the whole season. I don’t play as much in terms of other tournaments, so I try to prioritise my preparation so that I can peak in slams.

“Yeah, these are the moments and these are the kind of emotions that I motivate myself with every single day when I’m not playing a tournament. Yeah, occasionally I ask myself, ‘why do I need this still at this stage after all I have done?’ How long do I want to keep going?’ I do have these questions in my head, of course.

“But knowing that I play at such a high level still and I win the biggest tournaments in this sport – I don’t want to get rid of this sport or I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top, if I’m still playing the way I’m playing.”

He added that while he has always set new goals throughout his career, he hasn’t set a specific number of Grand Slams he would like to finish on.

“I said on the court that my childhood goal was to win Wimbledon and be No. 1 in the world, and when I realised that, then obviously I had to set new goals,” began Djokovic.

“Goals are important to motivate you so that you have clarity in your preparation, in your day-to-day, what you do on a daily, on a weekly basis in order for you to actually reach the destination where you’re headed. I think that’s super important for every athlete.

“So I was setting new goals higher and higher and higher as my career progressed.

“But to be honest with you, I was probably not thinking so intensely and concretely about the history of the weeks at No. 1 or most slams until maybe three years ago. Then I realised, ‘OK, I’m quite close for weeks at No. 1. I also have a pretty good chance at the Grand Slams if I keep healthy and if I’m playing well’.

“The slams at that point seemed a little bit less reachable than weeks at No. 1, but I believed. I believed that I’ll make it.

“I don’t put any number right now in my mind on how many Slams I want to win until the end of my career. I don’t really have any number.

“I’ll continue to prioritise them as my most important tournaments and where I want to play the best tennis. So that will not change. That will stay the same in the next season. I don’t know how many more seasons I have in my legs. So let’s see.”

The win at Flushing Meadows means Djokovic has competed in all four Grand Slam finals in 2023, winning three. He has faced a different opponent in each: Stefanos Tsitsipas in Australia, Casper Ruud at Roland-Garros, Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Daniil Medvedev in New York.

And while Djokovic said it was a different experience to when he was consistently competing against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray, he added that the current crop of players are “great”, and that tennis was in a healthy state.

“It’s different, because the rivalries I had with these guys were so strong and solid that it was very high probability that I’ll face either Roger or Rafa or Andy in the finals of a slam for most of those years when we were facing each other at the highest level,” said Djokovic.

“Nowadays, that’s different. I don’t mind playing different players in the Slams as long as I win (smiling). But I did play three epic matches with [Carlos] Alcaraz this year, and I think that’s why there is a discussion or debate on the next rivalry.

“I said all I needed to say in a positive way about Carlos, I do really mean it. I think it’s great for our sport that we have another very good rivalry. I know he also has a great rivalry with [Jannik] Sinner, and you have [Casper] Rune, you have these guys, you have of course the generation of [Alexander] Zverev, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, Medvedev, these guys that are still top 5, top 10 in the world. They are great players.

“I think judging by the attendance of people in all slams and, you know, the kind of a hype that goes around Grand Slams, tennis is still in a good place.

“You know, players come and go. It will be the same kind of destiny for me. Eventually one day I will leave tennis in about 23, 24 years,” he joked.

“And there is going to be new young players coming up. Until then, I guess you’ll see me a bit more.”