Former Wimbledon Champion Questions Novak Djokovic’s Chances for the Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic will compete at the 2026 Australian Open without a warm-up tournament.

Former Wimbledon Champion Questions Novak Djokovic’s Chances for the Australian Open title

Novak Djokovic (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)

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Novak Djokovic is set to travel to Australia in the hunt for a mind-blowing 25th Grand Slam and an unprecedented 11th Australian Open. But the chances of the 38-year-old success may rely on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. For former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, Djokovic might not be at his best physical level in Melbourne.

The former World No.1 pulled out of the ongoing Adelaide International because he was not 100 percent prepared to play. Before that, he had surprisingly announced that he would not be part of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the players’ union he co-founded in 2021 to lead a revolution in the sport.

With Djokovic not being ready to take the court in Adelaide, it means things aren’t all well with him. His last match on the court was in early November at the Hellenic Championship against Lorenzo Musetti. There, he defeated the Italian star in three sets and decided not feature in the ATP Finals in Turin.

Due to his age, he now has the liberty to choose the tournament he wants to play in and where he wants to play. But despite that being the case, he has often declared that he wants to win his 25th Grand Slam. For him to achieve that, he will have to overcome Alcaraz and Sinner, something he has not been able to do in the past two seasons.

The last time Djokovic won a Slam on tour was in 2023 at the US Open, where he defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. During an interview with Tennis365, Cash noted that Djokovic often finds solutions during difficult times in his career, but questioned his readiness to win the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne:

He’s always coming up with solutions to problems, so it will be really interesting to see how he goes at the Australian Open. But has he played enough matches? Has he trained hard enough? Is he saving his body just for the matches? And if so, will that work? I don’t see him beating Alcaraz and Sinner in back-to-back five-set matches and that’s his problem. He can get to the semi-final again, but then he is likely to have a familiar problem.

Djokovic won two titles in 2025, both of them coming in ATP 250 tournaments. His best run in higher levels of the ATP came at the Miami Open last March, when he reached the final before losing to Jakub Mensik in straight sets. The Serbian legend might follow the same route of winning titles in lower levels of the ATP this season rather than competing for Grand Slams and Masters 1000 crowns.

Pat Cash says Novak Djokovic doesn’t have in his tank to compete in tough matches

The Australian Open has often been one of the most brutal Grand Slam events because it starts very early in the season and so many players are yet to find their best rhythm on the court. But the tournament is well-suited for Novak Djokovic. He has won it 10 times in his career, more than any player in the Open Era.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)

However, he has not been able to reach the final of the Melbourne Grand Slam in the last two editions. Also, he’s not the same Djokovic of ten years ago on the court. During the above mentioned interview, Pat Cash pointed out that Djokovic might not have enough in his tank to compete against younger players:

You need to save enough in the tank so that you don’t get worn out and then not overtraining that you get injured before you go in there. When you are younger, you can keep pushing and while you get tired, if you play a five-set match when you are younger, you know you can bounce back quickly. As you get later in your career, it just wanes off.

Djokovic is yet to arrive in Melbourne for the Australian Open, despite the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Taylor Fritz already training ahead of the kick-off on January 18. The tournament draw will be held on Thursday (January 15), which will decide which player will face whom in Australia.

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