Rennae Stubbs Convinced Novak Djokovic Will ‘Bust His A**’ at Australian Open and Break Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner’s Dominance

World No.4 Novak Djokovic ended the season with the Geneva Open and the Hellenic Championship.

Rennae Stubbs Convinced Novak Djokovic Will ‘Bust His A**’ at Australian Open and Break Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner’s Dominance

Novak Djokovic, Rennae Stubbs, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via NBC Sports, X/Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner HQ)

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Novak Djokovic wants to continue his hunt for the historic 25th Grand Slam title next year. This year, his campaigns in the Majors ended in the semifinals, with his last Grand Slam final being the 2024 Wimbledon, where Carlos Alcaraz denied him the win.

The last time Djokovic tasted glory in the Majors was at the 2023 US Open. This year, he made the semifinals of all four Majors, losing twice to Jannik Sinner (French Open and Wimbledon) and to Alcaraz at the US Open. At the Australian Open, an injury forced him to give a walkover to Alexander Zverev.

Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs, thinks the Grand Slam event where Djokovic has the best chance to win is the Australian Open. She is convinced that Djokovic will be working a great deal to win his elusive title and break the Sinner-Alcaraz dominance. Stubbs said on her The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast:

I think Novak. I’ve said it over and over, I do think Novak is setting his sights. I don’t think he cared about the ATP Finals; clearly, he didn’t play it. I think he’s going to put all this time and effort into busting his a** one last time to win down in Australia.

Since 2024, Sinner and Alcaraz have completed a clean sweep of Majors, splitting the last eight titles between them. This year, Sinner defended the Australian Open and denied the Spaniard a three-peat at Wimbledon. The six-time Grand Slam champion clinched the French Open following one of the most epic finals and denied Sinner his second consecutive title at the New York Slam.

I think he’s the only one that can rock the cherry cart for Jannik and Carlos. Carlos has never made the finals there. Novak crushed him last year; one set was really good, but Novak was overall better. So I think Novak goes in there going, I know I can potentially get to a semifinal there, and I know I have maybe one more last grasp.

Rennae Stubbs added

Alcaraz has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in the Major Down Under. This year, Djokovic stopped his progression with a four-set win in the last four.

Carlos Alcaraz on whether he could beat prime Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open

Novak Djokovic is the winner of 10 Australian Open titles- the most on the men’s tour in the Open Era. The last time he tasted victory in Melbourne was in 2023 against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic (2)
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

Carlos Alcaraz, as mentioned, has yet to reach the semifinals in the first Major of the season. He recently sat for an interview with El Partidazo de Cope during which he was asked if he thinks he would be able to defeat the 38-year-old in his prime at the Australian Open.

I haven’t reached my prime yet, so I don’t know how far my prime can go. At the level I’ve reached on fast courts today, I’d say that might be Djokovic’s prime in 2015 to 2016, especially 2015, I think.

Djokovic has met the 22-year-old nine times, winning five matches. This year, they met twice: Djokovic won their Australian Open encounter, while Alcaraz won their US Open meeting. Alcaraz was last seen in action at the ATP Finals, which Djokovic skipped, for the second time. In the season-ending championship, Alcaraz failed to stop Jannik Sinner from defending his title.

Alcaraz won the most titles this year: eight trophies from 11 finals. He also took home five Big Titles: in Monte Carlo, Rome, Paris, Cincinnati, and New York. The Davis Cup is underway, but Alcaraz skipped it because of an injury he suffered during the ATP Finals against Sinner.

Also read: FITP President Angelo Binaghi Wants Italian Open to Become 5th Grand Slam: “We Need to Challenge a Monopoly”