MELBOURNE, Australia — And then there was one: The Big Three is down to just Novak Djokovic, who stands alone from a golden generation of men’s tennis now that Rafael Nadal has joined Roger Federer in retirement.

"I accepted it as it is. I understood the messaging that I got, which was we are rivals and nothing else,” Djokovic said

Novak Djokovic did not want to rehash — or even discuss at all, really — what he said Friday was a months-old interview with GQ magazine in which he recalled having high levels of metal in his blood from food he was served while detained before being deported from Australia in 2022 .