‘Novak Djokovic won’t stop until he gets 25th Grand Slam’, says Wimbledon winner

Ewan West 01 Apr 2025 5:25 PM

Novak Djokovic at the Miami Open

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has asserted that Novak Djokovic is determined to finish his career with 25 Grand Slam titles.

Djokovic was beaten 7-6(4), 7-6(4) by 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik in the final of the 2025 Miami Open.

The 37-year-old legend was seeking his 100th ATP singles title, but his wait to reach the incredible milestone will stretch into the clay-court season.

The world No 5 found impressive form in Miami as he did not drop a set in his five victories en route to the championship match.

It was Djokovic’s first final since the Shanghai Masters in October, when he was a runner-up to Jannik Sinner.

The Serbian secured his 99th career title at the 2024 Paris Olympics in August as he downed Carlos Alcaraz in an amazing gold medal match.

Djokovic won his 24th and most recent Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open — a triumph that saw him extend the men’s major record.

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Bartoli, a former world No 7 who won Wimbledon in 2013, expressed her thoughts on Djokovic’s motivation after his Miami final defeat.

“For me, that desire to win everything, you see it in the depths of his eyes. That moment when he won Olympic gold… He never gave up on that quest,” Bartoli was quoted as saying by L’Equipe.

“He wants to finish with 25 Grand Slams to be at the top of the pyramid and not have any name next to his, and I think he won’t stop until he gets that.”

Djokovic is next set to play at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he will start his clay-court campaign in the lead-up to the French Open.

What has Marion Bartoli said about Djokovic in the past?

At the end of Djokovic’s staggering 2023 season — during which he won seven titles, including three Grand Slams — Bartoli reserved the highest praise for the former world No 1.

“Djokovic is not only the greatest tennis player of all time but he is also the best sportsman in the world,” the Frenchwoman posted on X.

Following the 2024 French Open, where Alcaraz won the title, Bartoli took issue with the notion that Djokovic’s time at the top of the sport might be over.

“When we see the Roland Garros final between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, who are obviously very great champions, and the number of unforced errors that they still commit, the cramps of Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner in the semi‐finals,” she told RMC Sport.

“Tell me the number of times Djokovic cramped in finals against [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal that lasted more than five hours?

“The number of mistakes made by these players in the finals of Grand Slam tournaments where the level is higher… This is not at all the end of the Novak Djokovic era.”