Novak Djokovic is in Australia as he prepares for the start of what some are predicting will be his final season in tennis and the 24-time Grand Slam king has been backed to seal the ultimate glory in the opening month of 2025.
Djokovic was comprehensively beaten by Jannik Sinner as his reign as the undisputed king of the Australian Open came to an end last January, with the rest of his year full of unexpected setbacks as the Serbian legend admitted his motivation to continue in the sport was waning.
After achieving everything in tennis, Djokovic’s loss of motivation was not unexpected, but he appears to be rejuvenated heading into the new season.
With his former rival Andy Murray joining him in Australia in his new coaching role within the Djokovic camp, the 37-year-old has taken time away from tennis to prepare for 2025 and 17-time Grand Slam-winning doubles great Mark Woodforde has suggested that break may be the best move he could have made.
Djokovic playing his first ATP Tour event of 2025 in Brisbane this week and in an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Woodforde has suggested he expects the most successful male player of all-time to get back to somewhere near his best in the opening few weeks of the new year.
“I am expecting we will see the return of the Novak Djokovic of 2023,” began Woodforde, speaking to Tennis365 in his role as an ambassador for the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open 2025.
“Don’t forget, he won three of the four majors that year and ended by winning the ATP Finals and confirming the world No 1 ranking once again. He also made it a goal for Serbia to do well in the Davis Cup and they came up just short after losing to Italy in the semi-finals.
“After playing that brilliant match against Jannik Sinner in the Davis Cup, he didn’t get a lot of time off to prepare for the 2024 season and at the Australian Open last year, he struggled.
“He probably didn’t give his body enough time to recover and that may have been because he crammed so much into 2023 and wasn’t able to go again.
“It’s tough to take time off when you are one of the top players, but he didn’t have a great year and that may have been down to a build-up of fatigue.
“Now he has taken some time off at the back end of the 2024 season and I expect him to be rested, recuperated and recharged for the challenge of taking on Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz. I expect him to give the Australian Open a real tilt.”
Defending champion Sinner will head into the Australian Open as the firm favourite to retain his title, with Carlos Alcaraz heading to Melbourne with high hopes of winning the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win at the tender age of 21.
Yet 10-time Melbourne winner Djokovic looks set to arrive with renewed passion to push for more glory and Woodforde suggests he is still the player to beat when he is firing at his very best.
“For the Australian Open, I’m going to go with Djokovic to win it,” added Woodforde.
“I was in Paris to watch Djokovic win his Olympic gold medal and it was a tremendous performance. It was one of the matches of the year and the the standard Novak played during that event was incredible.
“I saw him playing against Rafael Nadal in the second round and he was outstanding that day as well, so it was no surprise to me to see him take the gold medal.”
Djokovic may have lost against Sinner in four of their last five meetings, but Woodforde is not alone in predicting there will be at least one more moment of glory for the Serbian legend in 2025 against the young guns who have knocked him off his perch at the top of the men’s game.
