{"id":1810,"date":"2026-03-01T12:45:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2026-03-01T12:45:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:45:06","slug":"novak-djokovic-warned-his-hopes-of-winning-25th-grand-slam-title-may-be-nigh-on-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1810","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic warned his hopes of winning 25th Grand Slam title may be \u2018nigh on impossible\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> silenced his doubters with a stunning win against Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open in January, but was that his last big chance to win the 25th Grand Slam title he has been chasing for over two years?<\/p>\n

The Serbian legend struggled in the early rounds of the first Grand Slam of the year and looked to be on his way out until injury halted Lorenzo Musetti\u2019s march in what had been a one-sided quarter-final<\/a> in favour of the Italian.<\/p>\n

Djokovic stunned the sporting world when he bounced back from that near miss to beat Sinner in a five-set thriller and he then took the opening set against Carlos Alcaraz in the final.<\/p>\n

In the end, the younger man roared back to win his first Australian Open title and complete a career Grand Slam<\/a>, leaving Djokovic to ponder if his moment to win a final major had passed him by.<\/p>\n

That is also a question being pondered by Sky Sports Tennis lead commentator Jonathan Overend, who admits he doubts whether Djokovic can beat Alcaraz and Sinner and in back-to-back five set matches at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDjokovic is the next best to Alcaraz and Sinner and at the age of 38, that is a frightening thought and highlights what he is still doing,\u201d said Overend, in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose the question now is, was that the moment? Was that the opportunity? \u2029Is that what he needed? You look at the chance he had. Sinner was out and [Alexander] Zverev was so close to beating Alcaraz in his semi-final. If Djokovic played Zvere in the final, he is probably favourite to win that match.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo beat Sinner and Alcaraz in back-to-back matches is tough, nigh on impossible, but that tournament tells you all you need to know about why he is still going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overend was backing Alexander Bublik to make an impact at the top of the game prior to the start of the 2026 season, but he admits the chasing pack are still along way behind the \u2018Big 3\u2019 of Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic at the top of the men\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Alexander Zverev serving for the match against Alcaraz at the Australian Open and you have to say he was so close and yet still so far away,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, it was predictable what happened in that service game and that told me he is still so far away from breaking his duck, which is why I say Djokovic is still the main challenger to Alcaraz and Sinner.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2029You\u2019re looking at players who can disrupt, who can get a win, you know, a bit like [Botic] van de Zandschulp against Alcaraz a couple of years ago [at the US Open], even though admittedly Alcaraz now has stabilised in the early rounds of Slams.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re thinking, who could take Alcaraz or Sinner out early? And is that more likely than a Zverev, for example, winning at the back end of a Slam? \u2029I still think that is more likely,<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the pressure is on those younger players coming through. The big challenger to Sinner Alcarez? We might not know about them yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic closing in on eye-watering prize money total as he prepares to return<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Novak Djokovic warned his hopes of winning 25th Grand Slam title may be \u2018nigh on impossible\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic silenced his doubters with a stunning win against Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open in January, but was that his last big chance to win the 25th Grand Slam title he has been chasing for over two years? The Serbian legend struggled in the early rounds of the first Grand Slam of the […]<\/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-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810","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=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}