Jimmy Connors Shares His Concerns Over Novak Djokovic’s Title Chances At the US Open

Novak Djokovic will not be participating in any Masters 1000 tournaments ahead of the 2025 US Open.

Jimmy Connors Shares His Concerns Over Novak Djokovic’s Title Chances At the US Open

Novak Djokovic and Jimmy Connors (via X/Olly Tennis/we love tennis)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

With just a few weeks away from the 2025 US Open, Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Cincinnati Open, a tournament that is meant to be a warmup for the final Grand Slam of the season. That has led tennis legend Jimmy Connors to share some concerns about the Serbian legend’s decision.

Djokovic’s last Grand Slam triumph came at the 2023 US Open, where he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final. The 38-year-old has since been unable to claim the major title; his young rivals like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated the circuit, winning all of the last seven Grand Slams.

With only the title remaining elusive, Djokovic’s performances across Grand Slams, especially this season has been pretty impressive. The 24-time major winner has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon Championships. Despite not reaching the final of any of them this season, he has proven that he can still compete with the youngsters on the court.

Following Wimbledon, he withdrew from the Canadian Open and then the Cincinnati Open. These two events are often used by players to get in the best shape ahead of the US Open. In the latest episode of Advantage Connors podcast, Jimmy Connors revealed that Djokovic’s withdrawal from the two ATP Masters 1000 events was concerning:

You can’t count him out. The only thing that is worrying me is that I wish he would go to Cincinnati just go and play two or three matches. That is the only thing that worries me that he left Wimbledon in the semis, which was a pretty good result, but he didn’t play in that match like he wanted to and lost in three straight. Then to take two and a half months off, he has a family, going on vacation and getting away. But you never know!

Last year, Djokovic didn’t feature in Toronto or the Cincinnati Open, as he had taken a vacation following his gold medal triumph at the Paris Olympics. That affected him at the US Open, as he crashed out in the third round after losing to Alexei Popyrin in four sets. It was the first time since 2017 that he didn’t reach the fourth round of the New York Grand Slam.

Recently, Djokovic dropped to World No.7 in the ATP rankings following Ben Shelton’s triumph at the Canadian Open. The American star claimed the biggest title of his career and leapfrogged Djokovic to become the new World No.6, a career-high ranking.

Nick Kyrgios’ ex-coach praises Novak Djokovic for skipping the Canadian and Cincinnati Open

After the Wimbledon Championships, Novak Djokovic has been spotted vacationing with his wife Jelena Djokovic in the Greek island of Mykonos. The 38-year-old is enjoying his time away from the court. However, after the Serbian lost to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, he revealed that he was dealing with a physical problem before the match.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (via X/Olly Tennis)

That might be part of his reasons for taking more time away from the court. Nick Kyrgios’ ex-coach, Simon Rea, praised Djokovic for not competing at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open. He revealed on the podcast The Tennis that it is a very welcome change in approach from the former US Open champion:

I think it’s to be applauded that he is trying something different again. He is prepared to go in there slightly underdone from a physical perspective, because he is thinking I need every ounce of energy available at the backend of that fortnight. You can’t go to the supermarket and buy confidence off the shelf.

Djokovic will hope that the mini-break from the court pays off at the US Open. He has proven on several occasions that he doesn’t need to play a warm-up tournament before a major event. However, with the youngsters hungry to win Grand Slams, he will have to toil hard while competing against them.

Also Read: Naomi Osaka Reacts to Victoria Mboko Naming her As her Idol Ahead of Their Canadian Open Final Clash