Novak Djokovic's schedule could be different in 2025

Yesterday at 12:00 PM

The 2024 season has just ended, but it's not long before the start of 2025. The first event of the new season will be the United Cup, which will start as early as the end of December. This year there will be no Novak Djokovic, who will play an official tournament before the 2025 Australian Open but has not announced what it will be. The most likely hypothesis is that the former world number 1 plays the Brisbane International, a tournament in which he participated only in 2009, which will give him the opportunity to gain confidence and play a few matches in a competitive context before the Happy Slam.

The Australian Open will already be a very important moment in Nole's season, who may no longer have much chance of adding a Major title to his illustrious boards. The 37-year-old from Belgrade will be the number 7 seed in Melbourne and risks a very tough draw, in which he could face Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz already in the quarterfinals.

The Serbian legend knows that he will have to be ready for the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season, which is why he has decided to hire former world No. 1 Andy Murray as his new coach for the next AO.

Novak's choice left everyone speechless, but it is undoubtedly fascinating. The former Scottish champion knows the dynamics of modern tennis very well and can help his friend Djokovic especially from an emotional point of view. The 3-time Grand Slam champion has faced almost all of the Serbian's opponents and will also be able to give him a hand from a tactical point of view. Djokovic knows he has to make some changes in his game compared to 2024, in which he did not win a single title.

In the meantime, Novak is enjoying some rest and will soon fly to Argentina to play an exhibition match with Juan Martin del Potro (their challenge is scheduled for Sunday, December 1st in Buenos Aires).

Yesterday, the news of the start of a new partnership between Djokovic and Qatar Airways arrived. A very prestigious new sponsor for the Serbian legend, which could also have repercussions on his schedule. In fact, Qatar Airways is the main sponsor of the Doha tournament, which will take place from 17 to 23 February. It is not excluded that Nole may participate in this year's edition. The former world No. 1 has already won this tournament in 2016 (defeating his greatest rival Rafa Nadal) and 2017 (defeating his current coach Andy Murray).

During an interview with Eurosport, former World No.1 and top analyst Mats Wilander discussed Nole’s chances in 2025: “My first reaction was that Novak Djokovic wants to win more Grand Slam tournaments.

Obviously to all of us that are tennis fans, we would love to see him win 25 Grand Slam titles and be considered the best of all time.

So with Andy Murray helping him, I say that he thinks he can still win Grand Slam tournaments in 2025, and maybe even 2026.

I think the message that Novak is sending is that he still thinks that he has some of his best tennis still in him, or he thinks that his best tennis is still ahead of him.

It’s a strong message towards Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and the best players in the world.”

It has not been revealed how long the collaboration between Djokovic and Murray will last and whether it will continue even after the first Grand Slam of the new season. The former Scottish champion has a family and will be doing a theatrical tour in 2025, which is why he doesn't seem willing to travel too much during the year.

The result of the 2025 AO will also be crucial for the continuation of their collaboration, which could give Novak other motivations in the last phase of his career.

Wilander explained how Andy can help Nole next year: “What Andy can do is he can tell Novak things that maybe Novak already knows, but Andy has played against all these players that Novak will face and Andy has seen them, he’s practiced with them.

He will not have secrets, but he will have other opinions about these guys’ games (Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas...). I think there’s a lot of small details that Andy Murray will know that maybe Novak doesn’t think about.

I think the big picture is going to be very similar. Andy has won three Grand Slam titles, a couple of Olympic gold medals (in London and Rio de Janeiro), he’s won the Davis Cup. So the big picture, they both have the exact same idea about.”