Former World No.4 identifies the flaw within Novak Djokovic’s 2025 plans
Novak Djokovic has prioritized a minimal schedule for the rest of his career so he can focus on Grand Slams.
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Novak Djokovic (via BBC)
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has stated that Novak Djokovic might be making a mistake by planning a smaller schedule for the 2025 season. Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, believes that playing fewer tournaments will keep him fresh to compete against players like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz for major titles.
In 2024, Djokovic did not add to his Grand Slam total for the first time since 2017. Despite being in the later stages of his career, Cash feels that Djokovic needs more matches, not less, to stay competitive and win big titles.
Older players fall into this trap every time that they are trying to save their body and they don’t always get a good balance on playing enough matches. You tend to see older players start to lose five-set matches or have more bad days and that’s natural. That’s match toughness. I know Novak has played a lot of matches over the course of his career, but he still needs to be match-tough going into a best-of-five-set Grand Slam tournament.
Pat Cash said on Tennis365
Djokovic’s highlight of 2024 was winning the Paris Olympics. He claimed the Olympic Singles Gold medal, defeating Alcaraz in the final and completing his career trophy collection.
We often say you can’t afford to get into tough five-set matches in the first week of a Slam as you need to stay fresh and that’s especially true when you get older…Andy has had a lot of injuries, but he always tried to play a lot of tournaments through to the end of his career and for me, that’s the big secret for Novak in the next year. If he can get his schedule right and make sure he has the right number of matches under his belt, he can win again.
Pat Cash added
However, that victory was his only win against Alcaraz or Sinner in 2024. Djokovic faced Sinner twice during the season and lost both matches. The Italian also defeated him at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia, although it was an exhibition match and does not count in official records.
Novak Djokovic confirmed to play Qatar Open in 2025
Novak Djokovic has announced his third tournament for 2025. The world No. 7 will play at the Qatar Open, returning to Doha for the first time since 2019. He has competed in the tournament four times before, winning titles in 2016 and 2017. In his last appearance, he lost in the semifinals.
In November, Djokovic shared that Andy Murray would be his coach for the Australian Open and possibly beyond. Interestingly, their last match against each other was in the Doha final in January 2017. The Serb won that match in three sets: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has also been confirmed for the Qatar Open. The tournament will feature other top players, including Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. Fans are excited to see these big names compete.
It remains to be seen if Murray will join Djokovic in Doha. Many are eager to find out if Djokovic can claim his third Qatar Open title after a long break from the event.
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Fahad Hamid
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