Rennae Stubbs suggests Father Time is catching up to Novak Djokovic and wonders how much time the Serb has left in the game amid his ongoing health struggles.
Although Carlos Alcaraz didn't play and Jannik Sinner lost early, Djokovic still failed to win his first Masters title in two years in Shanghai. While the former world No. 1 made the semifinal and came two wins away from lifting the main glory, his bid was cut short in the semifinal following a shock 3-6 4-6 loss to qualifier Valentin Vacherot. During the match, the 38-year-old evidently struggled and had to receive medical treatment.
However, even before the Vacherot loss, the current world No. 5 struggled physically in some of his Shanghai matches. And it wasn't only one issue as the Serb dealt with an illness, as well as leg, hip and back issues.
Unfortunately for Djokovic, it wasn't anything new for him in 2025 - he retired from his Australian Open semifinal match due to a hamstring injury, battled a swollen eye at the Miami Masters, and dealt with a leg injury during a Wimbledon semifinal loss to Sinner.
Stubbs: The same thing keeps happening to Djokovic in the later parts of tournaments... How long he'll continue like this?
"He's just breaking down all the time. If there was a legit injury, which I'm assuming it was in the first set, he looked pretty good in the second set. But the same thing keeps happening in the latter parts of tournaments for him, right? Novak just doesn't look like he has enough on the ball anymore against some of these players... At some point, and I've spoken about it for months, actually maybe even a year or two, Father Time catches up with you. At some point, it catches up with you, and, you just wonder, how long is he going to do this for?" Stubbs, who won six Grand Slam titles across women's and mixed doubles during her career, said on her podcast.
Meanwhile, at this week's Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Djokovic confirmed that he has no intention to retire soon.
