Novak Djokovic sent 'shove it up their a***' message as retirement doubts creep in

Former British tennis star Andrew Castle has suggested thatNovak Djokovic should hang up his racket if he clinches a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title at the US Open. Djokovic has not won any of the game's major titles since 2023, largely due to the rise of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Although Djokovic did secure an Olympic gold medal in 2024, the expectation is that the Spanish and Italian superstars will continue to dominate the sport for some time, with Djokovic's last US Open victorydating back two years.

However, while Castle doesn't believe Djokovic will triumph at the US Open, he expressed a colourful hope that the 38-year-old Serbian star gets the opportunity to "shove it up everyone's a****" by securing a win at Flushing Meadows.

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Heading to New York as the seventh seed, Castle, 61, is quietly hopeful that Djokovic can turn back the clock, but the former US Open doubles quarter-finalist isn't convinced that the four-time US Open champion has much left to give, especially with Alcaraz and Sinner having shared the last eight Grand Slams between them.

Castle told Betway: "It doesn't look like much to me," when asked about what Djokovic still has to offer. "I mean, it doesn't look like to me that if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are around that he could win another Grand Slam.

"It looks like the perception is, he's finished in terms of winning Grand Slams. It's the last kind of chapter in this storied career and now we analyse what he has done.

"At the French Open, I believe it was his 19th quarterfinal at the French Open alone. That is what the locker room talks about. I mean, the 24 Grand Slams is obviously ridiculous. But 19 French quarter-finals... and there's records like that everywhere and Novak's won everything twice or three times. He's won every single title.

"Let's just say he's had a good run but how do you think that he feels about it? Well, okay, wait until Sinner gets injured and Carlos has a bad day and loses, then we can have a different conversation.

"But as long as those two are there, I can't see Novak winning and it's probably exactly what he expects people to say. If anybody can turn that round and shove it up everyone's a****, I think he would love to do that.

"I think that's absolutely magnificent, and I would love it, I would be on my feet if he could get a run going and make it 25 Grand Slams at the US, especially the place where he was disqualified that one time," Castle added, referring to the controversial moment at the 2020 US Open where Djokovic was disqualified for accidentally hitting the ball at a line judge in his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.

Castle continued: "It would be glorious and the moment he wins the 25th, I think he should retire. You can't go on forever, he should play as long as he wants but personally, I don't think he is likely to win this one or another one."

The chances of Djokovic claiming his fifth crown at Flushing Meadows appears rather optimistic. The 38-year-old hasn't competed since his straight-sets semi-final loss to Sinner at Wimbledon back in early July.

Speaking about his choice to travel to New York with limited match preparation, Djokovic told the media: "[I may be] 'cold' in terms of the matches, official matches... but I have put in a lot of training in last three, four weeks. I decided not to play because I wanted to spend more time with my family.

"And to be honest, 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."

Emphasising his approach to reducing his calendar, Djokovic continued (via the Express): "I'm not chasing the ranking, not collecting points, not defending anything, etc. I just don't think about it anymore. What's important is where I find motivation and joy. 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 will kick off his pursuit of a landmark 25th Grand Slam in the opening round on Monday against 19-year-old American Learner Tien.