Former world No 2 Alex Corretja believes the path to a 25th Grand Slam title could open up for Novak Djokovic in 2026, as he insists he may not need to get past Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to achieve that goal.
Djokovic is currently tied with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam wins, with the Serbian needing one more to etch himself into the history books with the most major titles in tennis history.
Yet the rise of Alcaraz and Sinner has halted his ambitions over the last two years, with the two young guns sharing the last eight Grand Slam titles between them.
Djokovic confirmed he was still the third best player in the men’s game as he reached all the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams, but he admits Alcaraz and Sinner are hurdles he is struggling to get over in a year when he will toast his 39th birthday.
Corretja, who will be part of the TNT Sports team at the Australian Open, has give us his verdict on Djokovic’s hopes in 2026 and he admits the question marks over what comes next for the Serbian will soon be answered.
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“It’s very unpredictable and very difficult to know where his soul and his heart are in the tennis world at this moment,” Corretja told Tennis365, as he spoke about Djokovic.
“That’s the only question I have. Does he have the will and the desire to keep on improving? He is the only one who knows why he is continuing.
“Unless he says it openly, it’s very difficult to know what the reason [Djokovic is continuing] besides loving the sport.
“If he has the desire, he feels he is ready and he is healthy, he could still have one good year. I would be surprised if he could go more than that, honestly.”
Corretja also downplayed the theory that Djokovic will need to beat both Alcaraz and Sinner to win another Grand Slam title, as he insisted such presumptions cannot be guaranteed.
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“You can’t count on that. You never know what is going to happen in tennis and in life in general,” he added.
“Let’s say one of them loses in the quarter-finals and he beats one of them in the semis. Then you are in the final with another player and if it is (Alexander) Zverev, that is also a tough task.
“It is more about how he is feeling when he gets into the main matches of the quarter-finals and the semis like last year at Wimbledon when, in my opinion, he was toast before he played Sinner.
“Or is it like the US Open when it looked like he was okay, but they he couldn’t manage to do well against Carlitos.
“Not playing the week before is difficult because all the matches come at you and you don’t know how the body will react. Physically and mentally, sometimes it is exhausting, so we will see.
“Hopefully he can be there. It would be great to have Novak there again playing for even more history. That would be awesome for tennis.”
Djokovic allayed fears over a possible injury concern with a win against Frances Tiafoe in a warm-up match on Thursday, with the draw for the Australian Open has paving the way for his possible match-up against Sinner in the semi-finals.
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