“I don’t know”: Novak Djokovic refuses to say whether he will be back at Roland-Garros
Djokovic answered every question about his return at Roland-Garros in 2027 with the same three words: “I don’t know.”
Novak Djokovic, Roland-Garros 2026 | © Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
Asked on Friday night whether we would see him at Roland-Garros next year, Novak Djokovic, 39, did not really answer. Pressed on whether he could accept it if the five-set defeat to João Fonseca had been his last match here, he said only: “I don’t know.” He made the same answer, twice, when a 2027 appearance was on the table.
Twelve months ago, in this same room after his semi-final defeat to Sinner, Djokovic had been willing to talk. “This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don’t know,” he said then. He used the word farewell. He named the slams he still wanted to play, Wimbledon and the US Open, and gave the calendar logic in his own voice: “Twelve months at this point in my career is quite a long time. Do I wish to play more? Yes, I do. But will I be able to play here again in 12 months’ time? I don’t know.”
He did come back and showed he was still able to play. He took a two-set lead over the 19-year-old Fonseca, then lost 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-5 in almost five hours, the longest match of his Roland-Garros career, and his first third-round defeat here since Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2009.
“I would love to have twenty years and one moment out there today,” he said, “but that’s how it is.” Earlier in the same press conference, a reporter had begun to ask whether Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner both being out of the draw had entered his mind during the match. He cut the question off mid-sentence — “I’ll stop you right there“ — and refused to engage with this discussion that was about to start about a 25th title.
