Carlos Alcaraz made an ominous statement about Novak Djokovic’s return after the Serb shared his plans for 2025.
The 37-year-old had a largely underwhelming season by his standards and cut it short when he pulled out of the ATP Finals. But he recently confirmed he was as motivated as ever.
With Djokovic set to return to action in Australia in January, Alcaraz has now claimed that “a really dangerous player” will show up.
Alcaraz’s ATP season also came to an end on Friday when he lost to Alexander Zverev in his last round-robin match of the week at the season-ending championships. The Spaniard mathematically can’t make it out of the group and into the semi-final.
The 21-year-old still has Davis Cup to worry about before he heads into pre-season training for 2025. As he looked ahead to next year, Alcaraz was asked what he thought Djokovic could bring to the table when the calendar starts again in Australia.
“A really dangerous player,” he smiled.
Djokovic has been increasingly selective with his schedule and even said he was “done” with events like the ATP Finals but Alcaraz believes the tennis icon is always a favourite regardless of how many matches he’s played.
He continued: “I mean, he deserves to choose what tournaments he’s going to play. We’ve seen before that it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t play an official match for two, three, four months because he’s going to come again and be able to win the tournament, be able to show a really high level of tennis.
“So in Australian Open, is depend of the hungry he is. If he goes to Australia with hungry, is going to be one of the favorites to win Australia. Let’s see.
“He’s going to be fresh, for sure. A lot of time with his family, kids, wife.
“Have time to practice a lot, which is pretty good for a tennis player coming to a tournament with motivations. Is going to be a fun player to watch, for sure.”
Alcaraz’s comments come as a warning sign to the rest of the tour, reminding them that Djokovic still poses a threat in any draw.
The 10-time Australian Open champion recently revealed that he is planning to go “full throttle” in the off season to have better results in 2025. And he’s already planning to play in the first week of the new season.
“Tennis is still my focus,” he told Sport Klub while attending the Crvena vezda and Alba Berlin basketball game.
“I am going at full throttle in the off-season, we go for another ride. I just needed to recharge and refresh a bit after an exhausting year.
“I am going to play in the first week of the season, I am just not sure yet where. Then, of course, Australian Open.”
