“I can do better if I win the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic title”: Djokovic not satisfied after his coronation at the Masters

What assessment do you make of this tournament and your year 2023? Novak Djokovic: My match against Alcaraz on Saturday evening (in the semi-finals, Editor's note) and that of this Sunday, these are probably my two best matches of the season. To win against Sinner in front of his audience and to end this tournament and my season this way is incredible (...) This title is a superb reward for my team, for my family and for me after one of the best seasons in my career. I won four of the five most important tournaments of the year (Australian Open, Roland-Garros, US Open and Masters, Editor's note), I played in the final of the fifth, at Wimbledon. I couldn't hope for more. I am very, very proud of my season.

Will it be possible for you to do better in 2024? I will be able to do better if I win the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic title (Laughs). We'll see, I still have a lot of ambition and goals to achieve. It won't be any different next year, I'm sure. The desire is still there, my body is still responding, I have a great team at my side. My motivation to win the biggest tournaments is intact, that's what pushes me to continue playing. People see me performing well in major tournaments, but they don't see all the weeks and months of work to get there (...) The 2024 Olympics are going to be one of my big goals, along with the major tournaments. The schedule is going to be very busy, we will go from clay, the slowest surface, to grass, the fastest, and then return to the slowest (clay for the Olympic Games in Paris, Editor's note). This is going to be complicated and quite a challenge to take on.

What does Jannik Sinner's journey inspire you? He must continue like this, he is on the right track. I'm not the only one to say it, he can win Grand Slam titles and become world No.1. I don't know if it will happen next year or the next, but I would be very surprised if it doesn't. He is 22 years old, he has time on his hands. Him, Rune and Alcaraz, they form the future “Big Three” if you want to call them that. They will carry our sport into the future. As for me, I will continue to play as long as I feel capable of beating them and winning big tournaments. Once they start kicking my ass, it will be time for a little break from tennis, or even a permanent break.

Comments collected at a press conference