 "Novak Djokovic's search for a 25th Grand Slam is still on. Image: AP")
Novak Djokovic had another strong year in 2025 but still could not win his elusive 25th Grand Slam title despite reaching the semifinals of all four majors. The Serbian star recently turned 38 and doesn’t have much time to achieve the feat that will make him the most successful player in the history of the game, male and female combined.
The year started with the Australian Open, where Djokovic had to retire from his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev because of injury. At the French Open, he lost in the semifinals to Jannik Sinner, and then suffered the same fate against Sinner at Wimbledon. At the US Open, Djokovic hoped to finally win another major but could not beat eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.
How Djokovic might be making it harder for himself to win 25th Grand Slam
With the season nearing its end, Djokovic has only confirmed playing the new ATP 250 event in Athens and the ATP Finals in Turin. He has not yet decided about the Paris Masters, the last Masters 1000 event of the season. Some people think skipping Paris is a smart decision to rest, but former player John Isner warned that not playing big events can make it harder for him to stay match-fit as he gets older.
“As you get older, the more time off you take, the harder it is for you to recover. I think he is playing this because, you know, he’s obviously taken a lot of time off this year. He clearly wants to play next year. If he wasn’t planning on playing a similar type of schedule he played this year next year, he would not be playing Shanghai. I think too much time off for him would be a big detriment,” Isner said on the Nothing Major Show.
Djokovic will next be seen in action in the 6 Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. He lost in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters, where he was chasing his first Masters 1000 title since 2023. His last Grand Slam win also came in the same year. Djokovic has been suffering from fitness issues for the past year or so.