Novak Djokovic is ready to return to action at the US Open.
The 38-year-old has not played since the Wimbledon semifinals against Jannik Sinner, which the Italian won 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
He chose not to compete throughout the North American hard court swing, but the 24-time Grand Slam champion has flown to New York to play in the final Grand Slam of the season.
Djokovic is a four-time champion at the US Open and he will aim to join Roger Federer and Pete Sampras on a record-equalling five titles at Flushing Meadows.
Novak Djokovic has not played since Wimbledon because he wanted more time with his family
Since the start of 2024, Novak Djokovic has been playing more sporadically.
Last season he played just 46 matches and in 2025, Djokovic played 35 matches and suffered nine defeats.
This year he played the entire clay court season and Wimbledon, but Djokovic withdrew from Canada and Cincinnati.
Ahead of his 19th US Open appearance, the former world number one explained the reason for his absence.
“Obviously I didn’t have any matches since Wimbledon. So it is the right term in a sense, but I have put in a lot of training in last three, four weeks,” said father-of-two, Djokovic.
“I decided not to play because I wanted to spend more time with my family. And to be honest, you know, I think I earned my right and have the luxury of kind of choosing, picking and choosing where I want to go and what I want to play.”
Novak Djokovic shares his stance on the extended Masters 1000 events
There has been plenty of discussion among players and pundits regarding the extended Masters and WTA 1000 tournaments.
Rather than lasting a week, many of them now take at least 10 to 12 days, with some tournaments even hosting the finals during the week compared to the weekend.
Players such as Carlos Alcaraz do not agree with the move, and Djokovic has explained why he dislikes the longer Masters 1000 tournaments.
“To be quite frank with you, I don’t enjoy the two-week Masters events anymore. It’s just way too long for me. My focus is mostly on the slams, and I have said that before,” Djokovic said.
“But I also like other tournaments. I’d like to play more of the other tournaments, but I just, we have currently informally, unofficially, 12 Grand Slams a year, you know, when you think about it.
“I mean, Grand Slam is two weeks and the other Masters events are almost two weeks, as well. So yeah, it’s just not any more prioritizing the heavy schedule as I used to. I’m not chasing the rankings or building up my points or defending, et cetera. I just don’t think about it anymore.”
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