 "Novak Djokovic: Has anyone ever won a Grand Slam at age 37?")
Novak Djokovic fell short of making the final of the 2025 Australian Open after he was forced to retire from his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev due to injury on Friday. Djokovic had sustained a muscle tear on his left leg during his quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday, and reportedly had not trained on Wednesday and Thursday.
Zverev had won the first set of the semi-final 7-6 (7-5), soon after which Djokovic said that he couldn’t continue further. A victory for Djokovic would have meant that the 37-year-old remained on course to clinch his 25th Grand Slam title.
Has anyone won tennis a Grand Slam at 37?
The simple answer to this question is yes. Back in 1972, former Australian tennis player Ken Rosewall had become the oldest Grand Slam winner at 37 years, one month and 24 days when he defeated Malcolm Anderson 7-6 6-3 7-5 to win the Australian Open. Winning a Grand Slam at the age of 37 is very rare and Ken is the only player to have done so.
Djokovic will turn 38 on 22 May, and should he win any of the Grand Slams thereafter, he will become the oldest Grand Slam champion. Nobody who is older than 37 has ever won a Grand Slam.
The next oldest Grand Slam winner is the legendary Roger Federer, who won the 2018 Australian Open at 36 years, five months and seven days. Djokovic had defeated Marin Cilic 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in an epic five-set contest in Melbourne.
No list that features Federer is complete without Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Just five years after Federer’s Australian Open triumph, Djokovic became the oldest US Open men’s singles champion when he won the title in 2023. He was 36 years, three month and 19 days when defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in straight sets.
This was Djokovic’s 24th and latest Grand Slam title as he levelled Margaret Court’s record. Since then, he has reached the semi-final of the 2024 Australian Open, quarter-final of the French Open, final of Wimbledon and the third round of the US Open last year. And his semi-final exit in Melbourne on Saturday means that Djokovic has now gone five Grand Slam tournaments without a title.
Serena Williams is the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title when she won the 2017 Australian Open title at the age of 35 years, four months and two days.
A 25th Grand Slam title for Djokovic would have taken him past Margaret Court’s record of 24 slams, but the joint-record remains for now.
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