Novak Djokovic spoke about his bout with Father Time and the recent exceptional level that he’s been playing at after reaching the 2025 Miami Open final on Friday (March 28). Djokovic disclosed that his campaign at the Florida event during this fortnight had helped him put his past struggles on the back-burner.
The 24-time Major winner had been on a three-match losing streak dating back to his retirement in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January due to a right hamstring injury. The 37-year-old has enjoyed a reversal of fortunes in Miami though, not having dropped a single set en route to his eighth final at the Florida event.
Djokovic spoke to Tennis Channel following his straight-sets semifinal victory against 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov on Friday, where the World No. 5 was asked whether he was in full power during his Miami Open campaign. In response, the Serb stated that he hadn’t played this well since securing his first-ever gold medal at the Paris Olympics last August.
He also looked back on the last few months that he had endured on the ATP Tour, claiming that his run at the 1000-level event made his frustrations with lack of form and age go away.
“I mean, they are as good as they’ve been since the Olympics last year. I played pretty well also at the Australian Open,” Novak Djokovic told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amitraj (1:30 onwards). “The injury obviously, prevented me to go to play the entire semifinals but consistently playing this well, match after match, is probably last time it was Olympic Games. So yeah, I’m really glad when I play like this… obviously everything is enjoyable. And I forget about the age, and I forget about the struggles and everything.”
Novak Djokovic on positive reception at Miami Open 2025: “The love and support I’ve received is something special”
The six-time Miami Open champion also spared a word for the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, which has received him well in his first outing at the tournament since 2019.
“But yeah, I’ve been enjoying myself, I haven’t played in Miami in six years,” he added. “The love and support that I received over the last 10 days is something special, I’m very grateful I didn’t expect so much support. And so I’ve been riding that wave, so to say and trying to use that in my favor.”
Djokovic will be vying for not only a men’s record-breaking seventh Miami Open triumph, but also his 100th singles title when he faces Czech teen phenom Jakub Mensik in the final on Sunday (March 30). The Serb defeated his younger opponent in their lone encounter at the 2024 Shanghai Masters.
