“A new reality I have to deal with”: Novak Djokovic’s quiet admission after Rome exit
Beaten in three sets by Dino Prizmic in his Rome opener, Novak Djokovic spoke with unusual directness about the physical reality he is now playing inside – and the choices that come with it.
Novak Djokovic, Rome 2026 | © Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Dino Prizmic (CRO) – Internazionali Tennis BNL Roma, Rome, Italy – 08 May 2026/shutterstock_editorial_Novak_Djokovic_SRB_vs_Dino_Pr_16866702as//2605082101
Novak Djokovic lost his opening match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday, beaten 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 by 19-year-old Croatian Dino Prizmic in front of a Foro Italico crowd that, even in defeat, made clear how it felt about him. The result is the headline. The press conference that followed was the story.
Asked about his preparation for Rome – only his third tournament of the year after a long injury layoff — Djokovic gave an answer that, on the page, reads almost casually. In the room, it landed differently.
I don’t recall the last time in the last couple of years that I had a preparation where I didn’t have any kind of physical issues
“It’s not an ideal preparation, to be honest. I don’t recall the last time in the last couple of years that I had a preparation where I didn’t have any kind of physical issues or health issues coming into the tournament. There’s always something. Kind of a new reality that I have to deal with.”
That phrase — a new reality that I have to deal with — is one of the most direct admission Djokovic has made in public about the state his body is in. Not about a single injury, not about a particular tournament, but about the structural fact of being 38 years old and unable to arrive at events the way he used to. He framed it as a baseline rather than an exception. There is always something. He plays anyway.
He elaborated, briefly. “It is frustrating. At the same time, it’s my decision to still perform in that kind of state and conditions. It is what it is.”
No GeneVa, just Paris
The match itself offered the same story in miniature. Djokovic took the first set 6-2 against Prizmic – a player he has known for years and whose talent he has been on record about since their Australian Open meeting in early 2024. The second set, in his own description, was “something to forget — obviously, the way I felt on the court.” He declined, when asked directly, to specify what the physical issue was. “I hope you understand I will not talk about that. I want to congratulate Dino. Deservedly the winner today.”
He recovered enough to make the third set close. He lost it 6-4. There was no on-court medical timeout, no obvious moment of capitulation, just a player half a step late, which on his own diagnosis is exactly where he was. “I see what I’m missing. Late half a step. I’m not definitely where I want to be for the highest level, to compete at the highest level and be able to get far.”
The practical consequence emerged later in the press conference. Asked whether he might add another tournament before Roland-Garros – Geneva, where he has played warm-ups in past years – Djokovic was uncharacteristically blunt.
“No. This year, no. I’ll just go to Paris straight.”
“I don’t know. I hope so. Let’s see what happens.”
Pressed on why, he repeated the answer in the same register. “It’s the decision. It’s the decision.”
That is also part of the new reality. A version of Djokovic who once stacked clay-court matches into Roland-Garros, who arrived in Paris with rhythm, with confidence, with a deep recent run somewhere — that version is no longer the one preparing this year. He goes to Paris cold, by choice, because the body cannot afford a second cycle of preparation and competition before then. The decision is the only one available to him. It is also, in its way, an answer.
Asked whether he was confident he would be in good shape for Roland-Garros, Djokovic smiled. “I don’t know. I hope so. Let’s see what happens.”
He was equally direct about what he is and isn’t able to do in the meantime. “I train hard. I train as much as the body allows me to. Then how it turns out on the court, that’s really unpredictable.”
One word never came up in Djokovic’s press conference: retirement. The champion who methodically engineered the greatest success story in the history of tennis is now taking his life as an athlete one day at a time.
