Novak Djokovic is ready to return to play and has sent a very clear message to all his rivals. Tennis is still at the top of the former world No. 1’s list of priorities, and he will not be able to be underestimated by anyone in 2025, especially in Grand Slam tournaments.

It’s no secret what Nole’s main goals are at this stage of his career, and the Serbian legend has shown that he can still be competitive at the highest level, although he no longer has the same consistency as he once was. The current world number 7 is coming off a 2024 season in which he did not win any titles, except for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics (which did not award ATP points), but he reached the final at the Wimbledon Championships and the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The 37-year-old from Belgrade will play the Brisbane International next week, where he will have the chance to test his condition against very dangerous opponents. It is clear that Novak’s mind is already focused on the 2025 Australian Open, a tournament in which he has often exalted himself and in which he has triumphed ten times.

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In recent years, Djokovic has significantly reduced his schedule by starting to play fewer and fewer tournaments to preserve his energies. After a 2024 that did not live up to expectations, in which he showed some signs of decline, the former world number 1 realized that he had to change something.

The reference is not only to his game with the announcement of Andy Murray as his new coach, but also to his schedule. Nole has promised that he will play more tournaments in 2025 and his presence at the Doha ATP 500 in February has already been announced. The feeling is that next season will also be decisive for his future in professional tennis. If he does not win any more prestigious titles, the Serbian ace could decide to retire at the end of 2025.

In a long interview with Tennis Australia before the start of the Brisbane ATP 250, the Serbian legend opened up on next season: “I haven’t played for couple months any official tournaments, I finished my season quite early. Just took some time to physically recover and get myself in the right shape and I’m excited to start the new season with a tournament before the Australian Open.

Brisbane is a great tournament and has always been historically, attracting some top players in the world, so I look forward to hopefully getting more than one match this week.

I’ve been working hard last month or so and, as I say, it’s going to take probably a little bit of time to get that match play going and get a sense for playing official points and getting ready.” He continued: “Hopefully I will win a few more tournaments and my ranking will go up to where it should be. The way I’m feeling today, I still think that I can go strong for years to come.

But how long I’m going to feel motivated to keep going is unpredictable. I still love this sport and I still love competing.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will also play doubles in Brisbane with Nick Kyrgios. The Serbian and the Australian have become close friends in recent years and have decided to play together in the first official tournament of the new season. The talent from Canberra has always been a very controversial player, but in recent months he has further drawn attention to himself due to his repeated attacks on world No.1 Jannik Sinner.

The Italian ace has been hit by a bad doping case this year and Nick believes he has received privileged treatment. Jannik’s case is not yet closed after WADA’s decision to appeal, which started a new trial before the CAS in Lausanne. During the press conference, Novak also expressed his opinion on this delicate topic: “I’m just questioning the way the system works, really. And why certain players are not treated the same like the other players. The issue is the inconsistency, is the transparency. We’ve been kept in the dark with Jannik’s case. I mean, I’m not questioning whether, you know, he took the banned substance intentionally or not.”

Djokovic also added: “I believe in a clean sport. I believe that the player will do everything possible to be playing fair. I’ve known Jannik since he was very young, so he doesn’t strike me as somebody that would do such a thing. I’ve been really frustrated as most of the other players, to see that we’ve been kept in the dark for five months.”