Novak Djokovic's season ended much earlier than usual. The 24-time Grand Slam champion played his last official tournament at the Rolex Shanghai Masters early last month, where he hoped to win the 100th title of his legendary career, but his run was interrupted by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final.
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The Serbian champion then participated in the first edition of the 'Six Kings Slam' in Saudi Arabia, in which he was defeated by Sinner in the semifinals after a very spectacular battle. The 37-year-old from Belgrade beat his eternal rival Rafael Nadal in the final for third and fourth place, in which the two great rivals greeted each other given the imminent retirement of the Spanish legend (the 22-time Grand Slam champion retired at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last week).
Against all odds, the former world No. 1 has decided to skip the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, two tournaments in which he was supposed to defend the title he won in 2023. Nole has treated himself to a vacation in Maldives with his family and has made an appointment for next year, ensuring that tennis is still a priority for him.
However, Novak's 2024 is not yet formally over. Djokovic will be the last opponent of Juan Martin del Potro's career in an exhibition match that will take place in Buenos Aires on Sunday, December 1st.
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As everyone knows by now, the 24-time Grand Slam champion announced a few days ago that Andy Murray will be his coach at the 2025 Australian Open. The Serbian ace made this very surprising choice, which shows his willingness to devote himself to tennis again and win other trophies.
Djokovic surprises again
According to many insiders, 2025 will be the last year in which Novak can aspire to win a Grand Slam title. The former world number 1 has to face opponents who are more than ten years younger than him, who shoot very hard from the baseline and who have no reverential fear.
During a recent interview, doubles legend Nenad Zimonjic reflected on Djokovics choice to hire his former rival Murray as coach: "Novak is a very smart guy in making decisions and his career is proof of that. So whenever he needed something really special in terms of coach and help, he reached out. The results are proof of that and I would say that he knows the best.
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He also added: This is something new for Andy. All the experience that he had with the different coaches in the past and him being a player going through similar situations on his own, it can definitely help.
Andy is going to be one of the team members there, theyre all together. They have a lot of experience. The whole team together with Novak and to have Andy as an addition, I think, can work out well.
A very tough 2024
The current world number 7 will play an official tournament before the Happy Slam, where he will hunt for the 11th title of his iconic career. Novak is expected to choose the Brisbane ATP 250, a tournament he only played in 2009, where he will try to find his best shape and win a few matches before the AO.
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Despite struggling a lot for most of 2024, the 37-year-old from Belgrade reached a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, losing only to Carlitos Alcaraz (who had already defeated him in 2023). At the Australian Open, the Serbian ace had been beaten by Sinner in the semifinals, while at the French Open he had to withdraw before the quarter-final match against Ruud due to a knee injury. The US Open was his worst Grand Slam tournament this year, as his run ended in the first week against Alexei Popyrin.
In the same interview, Zimonjic opened up on Noles 2024 season: "Earlier this year I found him in a situation where he was not really motivated and he was a little bit lost with his game, having no good results compared to 2023 and struggling after Australia this year.
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I managed to fix it quite quickly and unexpectedly. Novak didnt have any expectations before Monte Carlo, but the two weeks that we worked together before the tournament helped him reach the semi-finals. Those new things we worked on during this period also helped him win gold at the Paris Olympics which was his biggest goal.
His amazing victory at the Paris Olympics was one of the most exciting moments of the entire year. The whole world paid tribute to the Serbian legend, who burst into tears and admitted how important it was to win that medal for his country.
