Novak Djokovic will arrive at the US Open without having played a single official match on the hard courts since the Miami Open final, when he was defeated by Jakub Mensik. After losing the semifinal of the Wimbledon Championships to Jannik Sinner about a month ago, the former world number 1 decided to skip both the Toronto Masters 1000 and the Cincinnati Open, leaving everyone speechless.
The Serbian legend had also made this choice last season, but in that case the motivation was linked to the fact that Nole had to recharge his batteries after achieving the last huge feat of his extraordinary career by winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
The 38-year-old from Belgrade will play the mixed doubles tournament in New York during 'Fan Week', in which he will join forces with Olga Danilovic. The 24-time Grand Slam champion dreams of making tennis history at Flushing Meadows, but the first part of this season has allowed him to clearly understand how difficult it is to beat opponents much younger than him such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in best-of-five set matches.
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Nole will be back in action in NY
Novak will also need a bit of luck to become the oldest ever to win a Major title and definitively detach Margaret Court in the all-time rankings. Djokovic's last triumph in the Big Apple was in the 2023 edition, while last year he was unable to play his best tennis and was eliminated by Alexei Popyrin in the first week.
The former world No.1 can only be partially satisfied with the results he achieved in the first half of 2025, in which he reached the semifinals in all three Grand Slams played and finally lifted his 100th career trophy on the red clay of Geneva. Meanwhile, a photo of Nole's outfit at the 2025 US Open is circulating on social media.
