Novak Djokovic’s future is quite uncertain after this season. There is no doubt that the Serbian legend will continue to play in 2025, but it is difficult to predict whether he will be able to win any more major titles before his retirement. Nole will turn 38 in 2025 and the gap to the two current best players in the world (Sinner and Alcaraz) seems to have increased in recent months. The 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Paris Olympics, taking the gold medal and completing the puzzle. At the same time, the former world No. 1 has suffered several very surprising defeats this season and has not won a single title.

In the Grand Slam tournaments, his level has not been as brilliant as usual. The 37-year-old from Belgrade has only reached the final at the Wimbledon Championships, thanks also to a favorable draw that allowed him to avoid the most dangerous opponents. In addition, Djokovic underwent knee surgery during the spring due to an injury sustained during the French Open. The Serbian ace recovered well from that surgery, but continued to wear a knee brace for the rest of the season.

As everyone knows, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has decided to skip the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals. His choice was not so surprising, but the way in which he communicated his decision did not please either fans or insiders. Although he already knew that he would not go to Turin, Novak announced his forfeit only a few days before the draw ceremony.

Benoit Maylin on Nole’s future

Djokovic wants to prepare well for the start of next season, in which he will play a tournament (in Brisbane?) as a preparation for the 2025 Australian Open.

On the latest edition of the ‘Sans Filet’ show, top analyst Benoit Maylin talked about Nole’s current status: “Where is Djokovic? Because he qualified for the ATP Finals, so, there’s talk. ‘The guy is burned out, no longer motivated. He won’t even win a Grand Slam anymore’. Stop. We’re talking about Novak, and we tend to forget that in 2023, he was monstrous in winning three of the four Grand Slams plus the ATP Finals, which he hadn’t managed to do since 2015.”

He continued: “This year, despite a knee operation, he wanted gold around his neck at all costs – and he did it. This Olympic title, which he had been chasing since 2008, drained him emotionally. He needed to recharge his batteries.

Djokovic knows that his time is running out, he will be 38 on May 22, so he preferred to take a break to regenerate. And I bet you that he will be very dangerous again in 2025. Until he wins a 25th Grand Slam title? Yes. And why not a 26th?

There are not many favorites left on clay, nor on grass – so you see where I’m going with this.”

Djokovic was in Belgrade

2024 was not a brilliant year for Novak, except for the incredible triumph in the Olympic tournament. The Serbian legend has not won a Major title in a full season for the first time since 2017, when his year was affected by a serious elbow injury. After deciding to undergo surgery, Nole returned in style in 2018 by winning the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open.

The former world No. 1 – who enjoyed a vacation in Maldives with his family – presented the trophy during the Belgrade ATP 250 last week and will be present in Malaga for the Davis Cup Finals, where he will pay tribute to his great rival Rafa Nadal.

Nole’s long journey in professional tennis has been told very well by his former coach Marian Vajda. “When we started working, I thought it couldn’t get any better. He is the best player who could have deserved it, and it was just amazing” – Vajda said in a recent interview with ‘Radio Television of Serbia’.

“As a coach, I saw how he was progressing, how he was training better, how he was developing, but for him the goal was to be tennis number one and win all those tournaments, Grand Slam titles. It’s been an incredible journey, but when I look back on it now and see all those numbers, it really is an incredible achievement. I could never have imagined that he would win so many titles and tournaments and be the best in the history of tennis” – he added.

The collaboration between Novak and Vajda was interrupted after the 2021 season, due to Djokovic’s decision to participate in the Tokyo Olympics despite being in the running to complete the ‘Calendar Grand Slam’.