The 2025 season has just begun, but the Australian Open is already a very important tournament for Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Grand Slam champion must prove to himself and to the whole world that he still has the level necessary to win such a prestigious title, after having had so many difficulties in 2024 and showing the first signs of decline.

The former world No.1 has always had a special feeling with the Happy Slam, which crowned him ten times, before that bad story in 2022 tested Nole’s patience. The Serbian legend has never held a grudge against the Australian people, lifted the trophy in 2023 and last year surrendered to Italian ace Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade missed the last official tournaments of 2024 and prepared very well for this tournament, deciding to hire his former rival Andy Murray as his new coach and changing something in his game. In Brisbane, the Serbian was defeated by Reilly Opelka in the quarterfinals.

A very important tournament for Nole

The current world number 7 does not have an easy path at Melbourne Park and will have to be very careful from the first round, in which he will face the young American talent Basavareddy on the iconic Rod Laver Arena in a match that could be insidious.

Novak must at least defend the semifinal reached last year, otherwise he would seriously risk falling out of the Top 10 of the ATP ranking. However, the former world number 1 is not thinking about this aspect and only hopes to play his best tennis in a tournament in which he wrote memorable pages of tennis history.

Djokovic seemed cheerful and motivated before the tournament began, praised Murray for the help he is giving him and can’t wait to start playing. In last year’s edition, the Serbian champion struggled a lot from the first rounds and his level never lived up to expectations. We will see if this year everything will be different or if his decline is inexorable.