Stefanos Tsitsipas gives his feelings on Novak Djokovic still playing tennis and not retiring

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Stefanos Tsitsipas has suggested that he would like to be competing into his late thirties like Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic reached the Australian Open final in his only tournament of the year so far, as he looks to return to action at Indian Wells.

Following his defeat in the championship match to Carlos Alcaraz, there were questions about whether the 38-year-old would ever return to Melbourne, but Djokovic declared that he does not plan to retire just yet.

With Djokovic yet to take to court at Indian Wells, Tsitsipas has revealed what he admires most about the Serbian.

Stefanos Tsitsipas explains what Novak Djokovic does that is ‘ahead of everyone’ else

Tsitsipas is already out of Indian Wells after losing his first round match against Denis Shapovalov, but before that he spoke to Russian news outlet Tennis Bolshoi.

In this interview, Tsitsipas, who has struggled with a back injury a lot over the past year, was asked what he would change about himself relating to tennis.

Tsitsipas suggested his longevity in the sport, before praising Djokovic for taking tennis to another level in terms of health and wellbeing.

“Longevity, tennis longevity,” responded Tsitsipas. “Like me playing until I’m 50, that would be nice.

“…Yes, I think Novak is a great example, because I think Novak, he’s almost like 40 now, he’s still playing incredible tennis and I admire that.

“He’s done everything up to perfection, and he’s one of the few professionals in our sport that has taken tennis to such extents when it comes to health and wellbeing, to being health conscious, applying things that other tennis players never heard or never even thought about doing before, so he’s one step ahead of everyone in terms of how he eats, how he sleeps, how he recovers, and he is the example.”

Has Stefanos Tsitsipas ever beaten Novak Djokovic?

Although Tsitsipas is now ranked outside the top 40, he was once one of Djokovic’s biggest rivals.

The Greek has played Djokovic 14 times, and Tsitsipas actually won two of their first three meetings.

However, since then Djokovic has won their next 11 consecutive matches, including two Grand Slam finals.

Djokovic beat Tsitsipas in the 2021 Roland Garros final from two sets down, and the 2023 Australian Open final in more comfortable fashion.

Their most recent encounter took place at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Djokovic beating Tsitsipas in straight sets.

Djokovic, being 38 years old and 11 years older than Tsitsipas, is the only one of the two players who is contending for the biggest titles in tennis right now.