Novak Djokovic reacts during his match

Former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs has expressed concerns over Novak Djokovic after the great Serb’s injury-affected start to the 2025 campaign.

Djokovic began his 2025 season with a run to the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International, where he was beaten by Reilly Opelka.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic found a high level to earn quality wins against Tomas Machac, Jiri Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz in the third round, fourth round and quarter-finals respectively.

The 37-year-old’s quest to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne was ended by a left leg injury that forced him to retire after the first set of his semi-final clash with Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic confirmed the injury, which he sustained early in his win against Alcaraz, was a hamstring tear — but he made a swift recovery to return to action in time for the Qatar Open around three weeks later.

The world No 7 was defeated in straight sets by Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Doha — his first opening match loss at a hard-court event since the 2018 Miami Open.

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Djokovic holds a 7-3 record from the three tournaments he has played so far this year. The tennis icon won his 99th and most recent singles title at the 2024 Paris Olympics in August.

On an episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs assessed that Djokovic is starting to struggle more after his increase in injuries.

“Novak Djokovic did lose to Berrettini. Berrettini did play the match of his life. He was hitting forehands all over the place for winners,” said Stubbs, who coached Serena Williams in 2022.

“I know he’s had his issues at the start of this year with in Australia with the leg. He’s struggling with injuries over the last couple of years now with the knee, with the leg.

“Novak has bounced back better than most, better than probably anyone. But this is starting to be a little bit of an issue now, not winning matches.

“And then when you haven’t played for a while, then you come back and you’re older… When you go and play a match, you’re pushing yourself more, you’re doing a little more, you’re more nervous, your body’s more uptight. And he’s struggling more and more and more.”

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