Novak Djokovic remained hungry and motivated even after winning everything in his sport. The former world No. 1 completed the puzzle just this year, finally winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics after chasing that goal throughout his career.
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The Serbian legend is also a source of inspiration for athletes in other disciplines and has promised that he will continue to play tennis as long as he is competitive at the highest level. The first signs of wear and tear were felt on Nole's body, who had to undergo knee surgery during the spring and did not win a single title in 2024 (except for the gold medal at the Olympics).
The 37-year-old from Belgrade struggles to keep up with the pace of two young champions like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have ousted him from the throne and become the new references of the men's tour. The Italian and the Spaniard have equally divided the four Grand Slam tournaments played this year, while Novak had to settle for a secondary role by losing the final of the Wimbledon Championships for the second year in a row (he lost to Carlitos Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024).
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However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has no intention of giving up and has made a very surprising decision ahead of next season. A few days ago, Djokovic announced that his friend and former rival Andy Murray will be his coach at the 2025 Australian Open. A truly surprising choice, considering that the former British champion has no experience as a coach and stopped playing only a few months ago.
The former world No. 1 wants to do everything he can to win the 25th Grand Slam title of his legendary career and hopes that a legend like Andy can help him. The 3-time Grand Slam champion knows tennis very well, has always been very skilled from a tactical point of view and has faced all of Nole's current opponents.
Murray will try to propose new solutions to defeat his rivals, but his presence will not be too cumbersome in the team and he should not travel for many weeks a year. This choice demonstrates Novak's willingness to continue playing for a long time and to want to fight to make tennis history once again.
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A model for everyone
In a long interview with Tennis365, wheelchair tennis legend Alfie Hewett paid tribute to Djokovic: I take a lot of inspiration from Novak. Especially his gold medal win at the Olympics this year.
I watched all of it because maybe I can relate to it as my next big ambition is to get a gold medal in singles. Thats three years down the line, so I wont worry about it for now, but to see him achieve that was amazing.
His perseverance and his attitude to his tennis is incredible and thats obviously the case for Federer and Nadal as well.
Their attitude and styles are different, but the one thing they all have is incredible belief and determination in what they do. And they keep coming back for more.
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Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray were the epitome of trying to raise the bar year after year and no matter who won what, they always come back stronger. That aspect of it, I find it truly remarkable.
Tennis is all about mindsets and as we are seeing with Jannik Sinner now, he is so good on crucial points in matches. I look at that and think its something I could work on.
Nole is very hungry
The 24-time Grand Slam champion will play an exhibition match with 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in Buenos Aires on Sunday and then begin his preparation for 2025. As he had already done in 2023 - when he played the Adelaide tournament - Novak will participate in an official tournament before the Happy Slam which begins in mid-January.
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The Serbian will be a threat to everyone in Melbourne, where he wrote memorable pages of tennis history with his 10 triumphs. The current world number 7 has shocked the world many times and does not intend to stop until he feels he has the right motivation. Despite struggling in 2024, the 37-year-old from Belgrade confided that tennis is still his priority and no opponent can afford to underestimate him.
If he were to win his 25th Major title and his 100th career title in 2025, Novak could also consider retiring at the end of the season. This summer - after winning the gold medal in Paris - the Serbian ace had promised that he would continue until the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, when he will be 41 years old.
