Novak Djokovic said to be facing a new problem which could see him retire from tennis at the end of 2025, 'the next six weeks are critical'

Novak Djokovic’s clay season went from bad to worse last week as he lost his opening match in Madrid.

The Serbian legend enjoyed his best tournament of the season recently, when Djokovic reached the final of the Miami Open, coming up short against Jakub Mensik.

Unable to carry that momentum through to the clay season, Djokovic lost to Alejandro Tabilo in his opener at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Attempting to bounce back in Madrid, Djokovic then fell to defeat against Matteo Arnaldi, as his clay record slumped to 0-2 in 2025.

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Deciding not to play the year’s third clay Masters 1000 event, Djokovic withdrew from the Italian Open, and is next scheduled to appear at the French Open.

One ATP Tour legend has now given his thoughts on Djokovic’s recent struggles and suggested the 24-time Major champion could potentially retire from tennis later this year.

Todd Woodbridge says Novak Djokovic is ‘losing to people he’s never lost to’ on the ATP Tour

Speaking on the Australian Open YouTube channel, former doubles star Todd Woodbridge explained the new problem Djokovic is facing.

“The new scenario, which he’s got to think about. He’s now losing to people he’s never lost to, and they’re all starting to go out there, going ‘Oh, this could be my chance now’,” he said.

“The invincibility factor has worn down, and he’s got to make that decision, and it seems like he’s made it by pulling out of Rome. I’m going to go on what I’ve done before. I’m going to go on my reputation, my aura, into Roland Garros and see if I can pull that off.

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“But it’s hard because physically, you can see he’s not bouncing back the way he was before.”

Woodbridge believes the next few months will be ‘critical’ for the future of Djokovic’s tennis career.

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“These next five, six weeks, are critical for Novak [Djokovic],” he said.

“If he can perform well in Paris, we’ll see him stick around, if he doesn’t, Wimbledon, most definitely he’s a contender and he’ll be there, but then I think the rest of the season, his future, we’re going to have to wait and see what he decides to do.

“Ultimately, given the way he has spoken in the media, we may be looking at a time where we see him join Rafa [Nadal] and Roger [Federer].

“The game will have moved on past one of the greatest eras of all time.”

Nadal retired from tennis upon the conclusion of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, two years after Federer called it quits at the Laver Cup.

The Australian went on to highlight how hard Djokovic worked over the years, and explained how that could play a role in his decision to keep playing or retire.

“Novak’s ability to do the 1% is better than anybody to be honest, certainly he sits in the top 1%, he now knows he’s got to do more,” said Woodbridge.

“Where do you find it? Where does he find the extra 1% when he’s already done everything possible?

“Perhaps he’s looking at that going, I’ve just got no more to give.

“If he decides that, well, you deserve to do whatever you want to do. That’s the hard part now.”

2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur then weighed in with her thoughts, questioning whether the end is near for the world number five.

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“It’s amazing how quickly things can move past you, even for the greatest of all time, arguably, probably we’re definitely at that crossroads of, all right, is this the time?” she said.

“Which you think is unfathomable, that you could ever get to that point.”

Todd Woodbridge says Novak Djokovic’s defeat to Jakub Mensik in Miami highlighted a big issue

Woodbridge also noticed something in Djokovic’s defeat to Mensik earlier this year, which worried him.

“When I watch him at the moment, he’s still winning matches, but if you go back a few years, he was never bullied within a rally around the court, you’d see him in the corners, and you know he could be flat out and he’d still be making balls and [move] back into neutral,” he said.

“If you go back and you have a look at the opening set against [Jakub] Mensik in Miami, he couldn’t do that, he was being blasted through the corners.

“A little bit like what we saw [Carlos] Alcaraz do in Alcaraz’s first Wimbledon final, he just blew him away.

“He isn’t able to absorb as much of the firepower as he was.

“Now that could be two reasons, one maybe he’s just half a step slower. I’m not sure

that that is the case.

“I think the game of this current crop coming [through] is even bigger than anything that he had to face.”

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Only time will tell if Djokovic can bounce back and return to winning ways when he takes to the court in Paris.

The 2025 French Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 25.

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