Novak Djokovic’s return to tennis confirmed after cryptic comments post US Open elimination

Novak Djokovic is set to end an almost month-long break from tennis as his return to action was confirmed on Wednesday. Djokovic has not played competitive tennis since 5th September after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open 2025 semi-finals.

Djokovic is now set to return with the Shanghai Masters in China, which will run from 1-12 October. This will be his second consecutive appearance at the tournament, where he reached the final last year before losing to Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic’s return date confirmed after US Open exit

The 38-year-old Serbian tennis star has won the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai on four occasions, in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. He also has a great record across other tournaments in China, winning the ATP 500 China Open on six occasions.

He’s back 🤩

Our 4-time champ, @DjokerNole will return to Shanghai this year!#RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/PaF2DPfcM5

— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) September 23, 2025

Djokovic agreeing to play in Shanghai is also good news for his fans, as he had refused to even confirm his participation in the Australian Open 2026 after losing to Alcaraz earlier this month.

“That’s far. Australia is far. I mean, I mean, at least at this stage of my career. I mean, I’m not thinking that far, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “I don’t know. I’m planning to play Athens tournament, that’s for sure. But other than that, it’s really still a question mark where I’m going to go and what I’m going to do.”

After his US Open exit, the 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic added that he feels he has better chances of beating Alcaraz and Sinner in the best-of-three set format as compared to best-of-five in Grand Slams.

“I mean, I still want to play Grand Slams, Grand Slam season, full Grand Slam season next year,” he added.

“Well, let’s see whether that’s going to happen or not. But, you know, because Slams are Slams, you know, they are just different from any other tournament. They are the pillars of our sport, the most important tournaments we have.

“But yeah, I do fancy my chances a bit more in best of three, you know, I guess one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches. So, you know, that could, that could serve me better in the matchups against them.”