‘Novak Djokovic has a really good shot at winning at least one major this year’, says former world No 1
Tennis legend Mats Wilander has proclaimed that Novak Djokovic has got “a really, really good shot” at winning at least one Grand Slam title in 2025.
The seven-time major winner feels the five-set format will help Djokovic as he assessed that the Serbian can “get really close” to winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles again.
Djokovic will vie for a record-extending 11th title and 25th Grand Slam crown overall at the 2025 Australian Open, which will run from January 12 to 26.
The 37-year-old tennis icon was beaten by eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals at last year’s edition of the Melbourne Grand Slam.
The Serbian, who is the No 7 seed, faces a tough draw this year as he is projected for potential showdowns with third seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals and second seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. He could face off with Sinner, the No 1 seed, if he reaches the final.
Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open title in 2023, while his most recent Grand Slam triumph came at the 2023 US Open.
In his first tournament of the 2025 season, the former world No 1 fell to a surprise straight-set defeat to Reilly Opelka in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International last week.
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Wilander, a three-time Australian Open winner, explained he is not concerned by Djokovic’s loss to Opelka as he backed the Serbian to be a different player in Melbourne.
“I watched the match (against Opelka) and Novak looked really good physically and I think emotionally he will be much more into it at the Australian Open,” the Swede told Eurosport.
“I think Andy Murray would tell him the exact same thing because he has gone through all those emotions playing smaller tournaments and then trying to get fired up for Wimbledon towards the end of his career and that’s much easier. I think Novak is in a good place.
“I think Novak can get really close to winning in Australia. I think he can get close to winning at Wimbledon as well.
“At the Australian Open, there are a lot of guys that haven’t played that many matches for the last couple of months and mentally, they’re not quite ready.
“Physically, they might be ready with the pre-season training and all that. But mentally, a lot of guys need matches and they need to win matches to feel like they can beat the best players.
“Five sets is going to help him, believe it or not, at 37-years-old. It helps when you get older to play longer matches and for Novak, that’s perfect.
“I think he’s got a really, really good shot at winning at least one major this year, and I would think Australia is the one that he most probably has a better chance, other than Wimbledon.”
Djokovic will play 19-year-old American wildcard and world No 133 Nishesh Basavareddy in the opening round at Melbourne Park.
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