Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic together before the Australian Open

Yesterday at 12:00 PM

The 2025 Australian Open is about a month and a half away, but players are already preparing for the first Major of the new season. The top favorite in Melbourne will certainly be Jannik Sinner, who won the title in 2024 and has simply been unstoppable over the past twelve months.

The World No. 1 has won 73 matches and suffered only 6 losses this season, winning two Grand Slam titles (Australian Open and US Open), three Masters 1000 (Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai) and the ATP Finals in Turin. The 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria plays his best tennis on hard courts and will be the man to beat at the 2025 Australian Open as well.

Behind him are Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, who will try to unseat the Italian ace from the throne. The Spaniard has shown that he can put Jannik in great difficulty, having defeated him in all three official clashes played in 2024. The 4-time Grand Slam champion has never played his best tennis at Melbourne Park so far in his career, but he will try to work on his weaknesses during the pre-season and will be very motivated next January.

Sascha – on the other hand – has gone through a season in which his level has always been very consistent, having reached at least the round of 16 in all the Masters 1000 tournaments played. The German champion has not yet broken the curse of winning a Grand Slam tournament and has missed several chances in 2024, but he seems to have grown from a character point of view.

No one can afford to underestimate a legend like Novak Djokovic, who has triumphed ten times in the Happy Slam and who wants to win the 25th Major title of his glorious career. The 37-year-old from Belgrade - who surprised everyone by making Andy Murray official as his new coach - will participate in an official tournament before the Australian Open. The 24-time Grand Slam champion will be the No.7 seed and could face Sinner or Alcaraz already in the quarterfinals.

Ahead of the start of the Happy Slam, between 7 and 10 January, a series of exhibition matches will take place at Melbourne Park in which fans will be able to see several top players in action. The protagonists of these matches will be Nole Djokovic, Sinner, Alcaraz, de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin, who will have the chance to play in front of their fans.

During a recent interview, Djokovic explained that he will have a different approach than in 2024 season: “In 2024 I didn’t play much and, Olympic gold and Wimbledon final aside, it was perhaps the least profitable season in the last 10 years, with many ups and downs, issues to be resolved even on a private level.”

The former World No.1 continued: “However, I feel that I can still play at a high level. Sinner and Alcaraz have established themselves as the two best players in the world, not forgetting Alexander Zverev. All of them will be the main candidates to win the Slams and other titles.

However, physically and mentally I am ready to play my tennis again. I have the feeling that I can challenge these guys, and my experience can come in handy.

So next year I will play more tournaments and the Slams in particular will be my priority: I will give my best to win, of course if my body allows me to. But I’m fine, I still have time to rest and analyze what I can improve to have a season better than the last one.”

The Serbian legend took part in the last match of Juan Martin del Potro's career in Buenos Aires last Sunday. It was a very emotional moment for everyone and Nole himself cried at the end of the match. The former world number 1 had to say goodbye to many of the rivals who marked his career such as Federer, Nadal, Murray, Thiem and del Potro.

The Serbian knows that his career is also coming to an end, but he wants to end his magnificent journey in professional tennis on his own terms. The choice to hire Murray as his new coach testifies that he is still motivated to play at the highest level, although it is not easy to compete with opponents much younger than him.

2025 will be a truly intriguing year for Novak, who is used to big challenges and has always found solutions to shock the whole world. Despite not shining in 2024, Djokovic accomplished a titanic feat by defeating Carlitos Alcaraz in the final of the Olympic tournament (despite a surface that was not very congenial to his game). That sensational win certified his 'GOAT status'.