Novak Djokovic is almost ready to start the new season, in which he is very determined to win at least one more Grand Slam title. The former world number 1 has practiced mainly in Qatar and Thailand in the last week and will fly to Australia very soon, having to play the Brisbane International at the beginning of January.
The Serbian legend played little in 2024 and did not achieve memorable results, except for the extraordinary triumph at the Paris Olympics during the summer. After coming close to completing the 'Calendar Grand Slam' in 2023, the 37-year-old from Belgrade has struggled to play his best tennis this year and has not played his best tennis except on rare occasions.
In addition, the rise of two young champions such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has further reduced his chances of winning a Major title again. For all these reasons, the current world number 7 has hired Andy Murray as his new coach and has worked very hard in recent weeks to be ready from the first tournament of 2025.
Nole's potential path
The former world No.1 will be the top favorite in Brisbane next week, a tournament he has played just once during his long career in 2009. A few hours ago the draw for this prestigious tournament was drawn and Nole already knows his potential path.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion will make his debut against local idol Rinky Hijikata, while in the next round he is expected to face French veteran Gael Monfils. In the quarterfinals, the Serbian ace is expected to find Matteo Arnaldi or Alexei Popyrin, who created several problems for him in 2024 and defeated him at the US Open.
In the semifinals, Novak could face Nick Kyrgios, Jakub Mensik or Sebastian Korda, while his opponent in the final could be Grigor Dimitrov or Holger Rune. The 37-year-old from Belgrade will also play doubles alongside Kyrgios, with whom he has established an excellent relationship on and off the court over the past two years. Djokovic and Kyrgios' first opponents in the doubles tournament will be Alexander Erler and Andreas Mies.
In an interview before the start of the tournament, Kyrgios opened up on his partnership with Nole: Yeah, look, I think we wanted to play together one time at least before either his career ends or mine finished.
To finally do it on my home soil where, you know I think for the fans whenever you get a team-up like this its important that the fans get that because thats what tennis is about.
Having two great personalities and trying to have some fun out there.
Djokovic wants to win AO
The Serbian legend wants to start his season well and present himself at the AO with great confidence. The current world number 7 has not played great tennis at Melbourne Park this year, struggling in all rounds and losing decisively in the semifinals to Sinner.
The 37-year-old from Belgrade is still motivated to compete at the highest level and it will be interesting to see what impact Murray has on his game. No one expected that the former Scottish champion would return to the tour in a new role, so soon after his retirement from tennis (which took place in the summer during the Paris Olympics). Andy is a legend of the sport and will be able to give very useful advice to his former rival, especially in the decisive rounds of Grand Slam tournaments.
During a recent interview, the Serbian legend explained why he chose to hire Murray as his new coach: I was going through a process of thinking about next season and trying to figure out what I need at this stage of my career. Because I stopped with my coach Goran Ivanisevic, that I was very successful with for many years, in March.
So I took about six months to really think about if I really need a coach, and if yes, who thats going to be and the profile of the coach.
We were going through different names and I realized the perfect coach for me at this point would be someone that has been through the experiences that Im going through, possible multiple Grand Slam winner, former No.1.
I was thinking about different people and then an Andy Murray discussion appeared on the table with me and my team.
It was still a shock decision. It caught him a little bit off guard as well because he wasnt expecting it, so we connected really fast and he accepted after a few days. I couldnt be more excited about it. This collaboration is a surprise to me as well, to everyone. But its exciting for tennis.
