Andy Roddick reveals what he thinks of Novak Djokovic continuing to compete amid rising talks of retirement

Andy Roddick recently discussed Novak Djokovic's current place in men's tennis and how the Serb retiring would leave a gaping hole in terms of ongoing storylines. The American also noted that although Djokovic is well beyond his prime, he is still a contender for the biggest tournaments.

Djokovic has considerably slowed down since winning three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2023. While the 37-year-old did take home the gold medal in men's singles at the Paris Olympics last August, he hasn't won an ATP title in more than a year and has played second fiddle to his rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - both of whom are currently ranked higher than him.

More recently, the former World No. 1 suffered a shocking straight-sets defeat in the 2025 Miami Open final to Czech teen prodigy Jakub Mensik. Against that background, Andy Roddick dissected the 24-time Major winner's future on his podcast, "Served with Andy Roddick".

Roddick believes that men's tennis is better off with Novak Djokovic vying for big titles as young champions like Sinner, Alcaraz, and Mensik get to show their mettle against a legend like him. The 2003 US Open champion also illustrated an interesting example, comparing his tussles with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the early 2000s, when the latter two were in the final years of their respective careers.

"As long as he's in tennis, it's better to watch. Even in a version of him, where he's only a "top 3 player", he's only "the third favorite every Slam" right now, that's fantastic because we get the generational match-ups of a Mensik [and Djokovic]... Mensi going, 'The reason I play tennis is because the guy that I'm about to go out and play is a peer...' Amazing," Andy Roddick said on the latest episode of his podcast (from 17:14 onwards). "Some of the best tennis memories that I have in my entire career are going out and playing Andre that first time, looking across the court in Miami, playing Pete."

"So the longer that Novak stays out there, one, it's just great because he's the most accomplished player of all time, and two, we get those stories, we get Mensik who gets a shot at him, we get that Alcaraz who is gonna go against him more often, we get Sinner who now has wrangled momentum from that rivalry. 'Can Novak steal one from Sinner at Wimbledon?' All of those storylines are fantastic, and it's amazing that he's still going, it was unheard of," he added.

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"Novak Djokovic looked great in Australia, looked phenomenal beating Carlos Alcaraz" - Andy Roddick

Novak Djokovic couldn't complete his Melbourne campaign due to injury. Image Source: Getty

Earlier in March, Andy Roddick praised Novak Djokovic for his display at the Australian Open. The Serb defeated third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in a high-quality four-set match before retiring in the semifinals against Alexander Zverev due to a right hamstring injury.

"Novak looked great in Australia. He looked phenomenal beating Alcaraz. He beat Machac, he beat Lehecka, who have since gone on to play great," Andy Roddick said on his podcast last month. "They were on the shortlist of guys that we liked going into the year. Beats Alcaraz in a primetime match."

The former World No. 1 also expressed surprise at the 24-time Major winner's impressive physical conditioning, as Djokovic returned to competition a few weeks after his injury.

"Gets hurt, puts out the image of a tear, and I just assume and I always get it wrong, because I apply what it would take most people to recover from something. I didn't think we were going to see Novak," he added.

In other news, while Novak Djokovic is entered for the Monte-Carlo Masters next week, he has yet to confirm his participation in the Principality.