Novak Djokovic is spitting mixed signals all over. After concluding his long-drawn quest for the elusive Olympic gold, the Serb fine-tuned his resume with every achievement. However, he has been lowkey hinting at retirement. While his arch-nemesis, Rafael Nadal, announced drawing the curtain on his stellar career, fans haven’t had much luck decrypting Nole’s future in the sport. This, in turn, elicited Roger Federer‘s ex-coach to chime in and lay out the mindset he’s likely in.

After an impressive run in Shanghai, wherein he finished runner-up to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the Serbian star jetted off to perform in the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh. Subsequently, fans were eagerly waiting for his upcoming touring commitments, but Djokovic had different plans. He withdrew from the Paris Masters, putting his highly anticipated performance at the ATP Finals in jeopardy. With the community perplexed about what’s next, or if there will be a ‘next’ event in charts for Nole, ‘Swiss Maestro’ Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic voiced his expectations on the Serb.

In the ‘Sky Sports’ studio, Ljubicic noted that the former World No. 1 is battling mental constraints and the excruciating physical toll of the game. The Croatian coach further highlighted that while Nole isn’t alien to the idea of competing, he is only aiming for top-tier events that will boost his resume—rather than focusing on enhancing his ranking.

He said, “I don’t know, and I think he doesn’t know it right now. In my opinion, he is certainly aiming for tournaments rather than the ranking, because to go even higher, he would have to play much more. He is not prepared either physically or mentally to do it, but in Shanghai, he showed us that when he wants to ‘play’ he manages to worry the best. I have doubts that this year he will play in Turin, but next year he will try again.”

For those unaware, Djokovic has abundantly expressed his desire to take time off and utilize it better by spending unreplicable moments with his family. Notably, he dropped a candid admission on missing his children before landing in Buenos Aires for Juan Martin del Potro’s final dance in an exhibition event. And let’s be real, his attachment to his family speaks volumes about why he’d skip out on important tour-level events, or maybe even juggle thoughts about wanting to continue or call it quits like his rivals, Nadal and Federer.

Novak Djokovic iterates the literal version of ‘father’ for his children

Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic is all about flaunting his adorable fatherhood. The father of two, Stefan and Tara, has numerously voiced his affection for his wife and kids, having made awe-inspiring gestures at Wimbledon to validate that. However, when he is on year-long touring commitments, spending family time takes a backseat. Naturally, the Serb wants to relish fatherhood without any holdups.

During an exclusive feature with ‘LA NACION‘, Djokovic highlighted the kind of father he wanted to be for his childhood, excusing the highly decorated Serbian ‘Novak Djokovic’ who seldom misses his mark. “It is important they see me as a father in the real sense of the word, as a father who is at home, with them, who follows the routine, the time to go to bed, to get up, take them to school, talk to them about life, play with them. That’s the person I want to be for them, not the father “Novak Djokovic” who is outside.”

With no tournaments on his calendar, Nole is reaping the rewards of an impressive run this season. While he revamps and scripts adorable moments with his family, fans likely won’t see him till next year or maybe even before the Australian Open kicks off.