Novak Djokovic fears dismissed before Australian | Sports News

Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, believes that there needs to be ‘no considerations’ over Novak Djokovic’s future heading into this 12 months’s Australian Open. Djokovic has opted to not play an official match heading into the opening Grand Slam of 2026 after pulling out of subsequent week’s Adelaide International match.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner cited that he was ‘not fairly bodily prepared’ as his purpose for selecting to skip the ATP 250. The Serb, who has not gained a slam for the reason that 2023 US Open, will now jet out to Australia having not performed a aggressive match since successful the title in Athens in November.

Djokovic will probably be seeded fourth in Melbourne so will keep away from No.1 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No.2 Jannik Sinner till at the least the semi-finals. It is the last-four the place he got here unstuck in 2025, having didn’t transcend that stage in all 4 slams final 12 months.

And there are considerations the 38-year-old could also be edging nearer to calling it quits after selecting to skip Adelaide – regardless of having had an low season to arrange for an additional gruelling marketing campaign. But Mouratoglou is assured that the 10-time Aussie Open winner will probably be advantageous when he lands Down Under for the match, which will get underway for these in the primary draw on Sunday, January 18.

In a post on Instagram, he stated: “Don’t worry about Novak. He’s gonna be ready for the Australian Open. First of all, I understand the people who are getting worried about Novak’s future, considering that he just withdrew from Adelaide, but I don’t think they should.

“It’s most likely the final two years of Novak enjoying on tour. He’s nonetheless seeded fairly high, so he may have the time on the Australian Open to have his degree raised.

“He is probably the most serious player of all time, the one who always wants to be the best prepared, always. You have to remember that it’s a five-set event and at his age, it’s even more difficult to win a Grand Slam, of course, because of Sinner and Alcaraz, but also because it’s challenging on the physical side.

“He must be absolutely able to play seven matches, probably in 5 units. And one more reason to not fear about Novak. Last 12 months, he made the semi-finals of the 4 grand slams at 38-years-old.

“The last tournament he played, yes, it was an ATP 250, but he won it. To think that it’s the end because he just doesn’t play the tournaments he planned to play before a Grand Slam because he wants to be more ready for it? I take it as a good sign.”

Djokovic has not gained the Australian Open since 2023, however the match at Melbourne Park stays his favorite venue. The tennis great has by no means misplaced a remaining on the match and beat Alcaraz within the quarter-finals final 12 months – regardless of struggling a muscle tear that pressured him to retire after only one set towards Alexander Zverev within the semi-finals.