 "Novak Djokovic struggled to compete in his Shanghai Masters semi-final meeting with world No 204 Valentin Vacherot. Reuters")
Novak Djokovic continues to chase a record 25th Grand Slam more than two years since he went level the legendary Margaret Court after winning the 2023 US Open. The Serbian tennis superstar has found it tough to catch up with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the last two years, with the ‘Sincaraz’ pair facing each other in the final of the last three Majors and the last eight Grand Slams being won by one of these two.
After his semi-final defeat against Alcaraz in the US Open last month, Djokovic had admitted that he could no longer sustain his energy levels across five sets, but maintained that he could still compete in three-set matches outside Grand Slams.
That statement also came under the spotlight at the Shanghai Masters recently, where the 38-year-old failed to win the ATP Masters 1000 event despite Alcaraz’s absence and Sinner’s early injury-forced exit. Djokovic appeared a pale shadow of his former self as he struggled on the court in his semi-final meeting with Monegasque qualifier Valentin Vacherot, suffering a straight-sets defeat (6-3 6-4) at the hands of the world No 204 .
The chastening defeat against a player ranked outside the world top-200 certainly has raised questions regarding Djokovic’s future. As far as the long-term scenario is concerned, the veteran star’s chances of competing in all four Slams next year appear highly unlikely for now, even if Djokovic has been going deep in Grand Slams in his late 30s.
In the short-term scheme of things, his performance in Shanghai has raised questions on his ability to compete in the second edition of the 6 Kings Slam that will be taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this week.
Djokovic unlikely to give lucrative 6 Kings Slam a miss
Djokovic will be competing alongside both Sinner and Alcaraz as well as other young stars such as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz. And while each player is promised a payout of $1.5 million simply for participating in the event, the winner is set to earn an additional $4.5 million – the total amount coming to $6 million as a result.
The event gets underway with the quarter-finals on Wednesday, 15 October, in which Zverev and Sinner face Fritz and Tsitsipas respectively. Alcaraz and Djokovic are set to compete directly in the semi-finals, facing the winners of the Zverev-Fritz and Sinner-Tsitsipas quarter-finals respectively on the following day.
Djokovic had refused to answer questions on his fitness and on his future after his semi-final exit in Shanghai. There hasn’t been any indication so far of the Serbian staging a last-minute withdrawal from the event due to his recent fitness problems.
However, given the fact that Djokovic will be earning more than a million simply for playing one match later this week, and four times that amount should he also play the final on Saturday, his chances of sitting out of the event appear highly unlikely for now.
Djokovic is also scheduled to participate in the inaugural Hellenic Championships later this year, which will be the first ATP 250 event taking place in Greek capital Athens in more than three decades. The event takes place between 2 to 8 November, giving Djokovic at least two weeks of recovery after playing a maximum of two matches in Riyadh.
Unless he suffers a last-minute season-ending injury, Djokovic is likely to compete in both events. Djokovic, however, is likely to give the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin a miss for a second year in a row, having opted against defending his title last year.
His appearance in Athens thus will likely be his last of the 2025 season. Djokovic will then have more than two months to make up his mind on competing in next year’s Australian Open and his roadmap for the future.