Djokovic: Still have passion, hunger to play at highest level

Novak Djokovic

Serbian tennis ace and the winner of 21 singles Grand Slam titles, Novak Djokovic, has said he still had the "passion" and "hunger" to play at the highest level, even though he decided to skip two majors this year - the Australian Open and the US Open - owing to his choice to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

The Serbian has seen his ATP ranking nosedive from No.1 to No.7 this year due to the 35-year-old missing the two majors, and the Wimbledon - which Djokovic won defeating Australia's Nick Kyrgios - being stripped of ATP and WTA ranking points for not allowing Russian and Belarusian players from competing this year.

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Djokovic said he is not contemplating retirement just yet. "I still want to play tennis even though I achieved pretty much everything that you can achieve in tennis," Djokovic was quoted as saying by atptour.com. "I still have passion and hunger to play at a highest professional level." Djokovic competed over the weekend at the Laver Cup, which became a celebration of the now-retired Federer's career. "I have massive respect for Roger Federer and what he contributed to our sport. He had an epic career, he can be proud of it. He's one of the most recognised athletes of all time," said Djokovic.

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