It is not easy to speculate under what conditions Novak Djokovic will present himself at the US Open, scheduled in New York from August 24 to September 7. The Serbian legend - who won the last Major title of his extraordinary career in the Big Apple in 2023 - has not played a single official tournament on the hard courts in recent weeks, deciding to skip the Masters 1000 in Toronto and Cincinnati.
The former world number 1 extended his holidays and resumed practicing in Montenegro only a few days ago. As everyone knows, the 2025 edition of the US Open will be preceded by the mixed doubles tournament and Nole will participate together with Olga Danilovic to test his level.
At 38, the veteran from Belgrade is aware that he no longer has much chance of becoming the oldest ever to lift a Grand Slam trophy. Novak has reached the semifinals in all three Major tournaments played this season, but they can't be too satisfying for a legend of his caliber who is used to excellence.
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Djokovic is practicing
Djokovic knows that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz represent his two main obstacles right now and that his body no longer offers him the same guarantees as a few years ago, but he does not seem willing to give up and will give his best as long as he feels competitive.
On the latest episode of his famous podcast, former American champion Jimmy Connors highlighted how tough it will be for Nole to triumph in New York: "The Wimbledon Championships semifinal against Sinner was an important test for the Serbian legend, but his performance did not live up to expectations also due to a muscle problem.
He will play the US Open without having participated in any tournament on this surface and we know that he will have at least three really tough matches from the quarterfinals onwards, two of which will certainly be against Alcaraz and Sinner. Also, it is possible that it will be very h*t in New York, a factor that would make the matches even tougher from an athletic point of view."
