MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic can still joke when he talks about the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, which for two years has kept him from becoming the most decorated tennis player ever.
“I lost three out of four Slams against Sinner or Alcaraz,” he said on Saturday, 2025, on the eve of the Australian Open.
“We don’t have to praise them too much,” he added with a smile. “They’ve been praised enough! We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces in men’s tennis right now.”
Djokovic begins a third season in the hunt for a 25th Grand Slam singles title and has refined his approach for the Australian Open.
He withdrew from his only scheduled tune-up tournament, knowing he lacks “a little bit of juice in my legs” to compete with two young stars at the end of the majors and needs to remain as pain-free as possible.
Djokovic figured out how to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the established rivalry, before turning them into the big three and then surpassing them.
The winner of 24 major championships – a record for the Open era and tied with Margaret Court for the most in tennis history – the 38-year-old Djokovic is doing everything he can to keep himself ‘in the mix’.
Djokovic last won a major title at the 2023 US Open. Sinner and Alcaraz have since split the eight. Sinner has won the past two Australian titles. In Australia, Alcaraz is determined to add the title at Melbourne Park to complete a Grand Slam career.
Despite being hampered by injuries, Djokovic reached the semifinals of all four majors last year. A torn hamstring forced him out of the Australian Open semi-finals after ousting Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
Reminding himself that “24 isn’t a bad number either,” Djokovic said he takes the “now-or-never mentality” out of all his appearances at a major because it prevents him from excelling at his best.
“Sinner and Alcaraz are playing at a different level than everyone else right now. That’s a fact,” Djokovic said, “but that doesn’t mean no one else has a chance.
“So I always like my chances, in every tournament, especially here.”
The 10-time Australian Open champion opens against No. 71 ranked Pedro Martinez of Spain in a night match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday. He is seeded fourth and is in the same half of the draw as top-ranked Alcaraz. This means that they can only meet each other in the semi-finals.
Djokovic has not played an official tournament since November.
“It definitely took longer to rebuild my body, because I understand that’s what’s changed the most for me over the last few years: it takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover,” he said. “I had a little setback that prevented me from playing in the Adelaide tournament… but so far things are going really well here.”
He said that every day there is “something here and there” in terms of aches and pains, “but overall I’m feeling good and looking forward to competing.”
Djokovic cut ties with the Professional Tennis Players Association, a group he co-founded, earlier this month, saying that “my values and approach are no longer aligned with the organization’s current direction.”
Djokovic and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil launched the PTPA in 2020, aiming to provide representation for players who are independent contractors in a largely individual sport.
“It was a tough call for me to leave the PTPA, but I had to do that because I felt like my name was… overused,” he said. “I felt like when people think of PTPA, they think it’s my organization, which is a wrong idea from the start.”
He said he still supports the concept.
“I still wish them all the best because I think there is room and need for a 100% player representative organization in our ecosystem,” he said.
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