Andy Roddick has questioned Novak Djokovic\u2019s future after labelling the Serb\u2019s 2025 season as both \u2018impressive\u2019 and \u2018disappointing\u2019, given the Serb\u2019s current goals and age.<\/p>\n
The 24-time Grand Slam champion reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this season, but was unable to collect a set in any of the matches.<\/p>\n
As a result of his consistent performances, Djokovic ended the season ranked as the world No 4.<\/p>\n
His ranking was also aided by two ATP 250 titles, one in Geneva (defeating Hubert Hurkacz) and the other in Athens (defeating Lorenzo Musetti).<\/p>\n
However, Djokovic has made no secret that his main goal for the remainder of his career is to win a record-breaking 25th<\/sup> Grand Slam title.<\/p>\n Roddick, who won the 2003 US Open, weighed in with his analysis of Djokovic\u2019s aims for 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this stage of the last four, it feels like he can turn on and off being a top-three or four player in the world. That\u2019s Novak Djokovic, right?\u201d the American began on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we judge this year against his career? Any year where he doesn\u2019t win a major is probably disappointing for him. And this year was insane to watch.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was basically a part-time tennis player who was still the third-best player in the world. It\u2019s a joke. It\u2019s unbelievably impressive.<\/p>\n \u201cCarlos Alcaraz didn\u2019t play unbelievably well at Wimbledon this year either \u2013 at least not by his own absurd standards. We judge him against his own shadow now.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s already an all-time great and the world No. 1, but a couple of small things shift and suddenly Novak\u2019s path looks different.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Djokovic has defied all of the standard norms of what a 38-year-old tennis player can achieve, but \u2013 as comes to almost every athlete \u2013 the impact of age has been on display more than ever over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n At the Australian Open, the Serb injured his hamstring, which forced him to retire from his semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev after losing the first set 7-6(5) \u2013 setting back his preparation for subsequent tournaments.<\/p>\n During his last-eight match at Wimbledon, against Flavio Cobolli, Djokovic jarred his hip before clinching the victory.<\/p>\n However, the slip \u2013 which the former world No 1 attributed to \u2018wear and tear \u2018 \u2013 meant that he was severely compromised against Jannik Sinner in the semi-final.<\/p>\n Whilst his body appears to be declining, both Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner are slowly entering their prime years, and will , likely, only improve over the remainder of Djokovic\u2019s career.<\/p>\n Rafael Nadal reveals the key differences between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner<\/a><\/p>\n Stefanos Tsitsipas set for huge equipment change after 2025 struggles \u2013 reports<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the whole thing. After the US Open, Novak openly questioned whether he can train the way he used to,\u201d added Roddick.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t train that psychotically \u2014 and I mean that as a compliment \u2014 at 38 years old,\u201d Roddick said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if you can\u2019t train that way, then can your body hold up over two weeks, best-of-five sets, at a major? This year, by his own admission, the answer was no.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said that he doesn\u2019t know if his body will hold up. That when he reaches a Grand Slam semifinal, he doesn\u2019t know if he can win if his body is already exhausted.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the most important question of this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Djokovic is due to begin his 2026 season at the ATP 250 event in Adelaide, January 12 \u2013 17, and will look to gain crucial match preparation before the Melbourne Grand Slam.<\/p>\n Jon Werthiem, the co-host of Roddick\u2019s podcast and a regular contributor to the Tennis Channel, agreed with much of the former world No 1\u2019s assessment, but added that Djokovic will \u2018like\u2019 the challenge of having to overcome both his body and rivals.<\/p>\n \u201cHe really likes this challenge,\u201d Werthiem said.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people are like I have to get up, I used to win these majors, now I have to go through these.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he loves this challenge of bending time. Knowing him a little bit, you sense that anyway, but talking to people who were very close to him.<\/p>\n \u201c I think the great ones always find something, sometimes it is completely concocted, sometimes it\u2019s a legitimate rival. I think he loves this challenge of can I outflank time? I think he is leaning into that.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<\/strong> a preferred source on Google to your favourites<\/strong><\/a> list for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The post Novak Djokovic\u2019s future in doubt after \u2018disappointing\u2019 2025 as Andy Roddick fuels retirement speculation<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andy Roddick has questioned Novak Djokovic\u2019s future after labelling the Serb\u2019s 2025 season as both \u2018impressive\u2019 and \u2018disappointing\u2019, given the Serb\u2019s current goals and age. The 24-time Grand Slam champion reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this season, but was unable to collect a set in any of the matches. As a result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Latest Tennis News<\/h2>\n