Does an aging Novak Djokovic have any chance of reaching 25 Grand Slam titles amid persistent injury troubles?

Novak Djokovic is not the youngest cat on the Tour anymore. Whether his fans like it or not, age has an impact and will influence his chances of clinching the 25th Major. Djokovic might have had the most dedicated approach to his tennis career, but time is undefeated, and nobody has been able to slow it down or overcome it in any meaningful way.

Turning 38 this May, Djokovic has already broken some records when it comes to winning Grand Slams at an age when very few players have done so. Doing so in this era of modern tennis, where every player utilizes every bit of science available to become the best version of themselves, is even more impressive. However, some things need to be addressed.

When we look at his performances in the past year and a bit more, we notice a rather troubling trend. Last year (2024) was the first time in many years that Novak Djokovic went empty-handed at the Grand Slams. Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon and French Open, while Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open and US Open.

What went wrong for the 10-time Australian Open champion, then? Well, He was beaten by Sinner at the Australian Open and got injured at Roland Garros. He then lost to Alcaraz at Wimbledon and Alexei Popyrin at the US Open. The only meaningful trophy he won was the Olympics, which was a best-of-three event. The Serb also made the Shanghai final, also a best-of-three event.

We’re over a year removed from him winning an event that is a best-of-five format. Even this one at the Australian Open didn’t go too well with a mid-match retirement against Alexander Zverev in the semifinal. So what does that tell us? Does Djokovic have a longevity problem? Have the years finally caught up to him?

It’s certainly a possibility, and it certainly doesn’t help. Winning a Grand Slam is not only tough tennis-wise, it’s very tough physically because one has to play seven matches, most of which are very tough and physically demanding.

If his body can’t hold up, he won’t be able to win that iconic 25th one he’s chasing. So will his body hold up?

Can Novak Djokovic win the 25th Grand Slam?

US Open Tennis Championship 2023 - Source: Getty

Albeit a good question, it is pretty hard to answer. Some things swing the argument to one side, and we’re going to present them here. First of all, it’s been over a year since he won a Major. The last one was the 2023 US Open win, which was almost a year and a half ago. At his age, that’s not a small amount of time; big changes happen during that time.

Another issue is the number of physical problems Djokovic seems to be experiencing. The 2025 Australian Open was the second time in less than a year that an injury derailed him, so much so that he had to retire and stop playing. That’s not a good trend and likely won’t change as he turns 38 later this year and 39 next year if he keeps playing at all.

Then there is the factor of young and up-and-coming players such as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner has proven a bit better at dealing with Novak Djokovic than Carlos Alcaraz has, but both of them have age and stamina on their side. If Djokovic gets them in a match that is best of five, do you really think he will have more energy than them in the fifth set? I don’t buy it, and we saw what happened in the most recent matchup with Alcaraz.

While Djokovic outplayed and defeated the young Spaniard, he ended up hurting himself in the process. The World No. 7 exerted so much energy and put his body through so much stress to beat Alcaraz, that it ended up costing him. There is no guarantee that he’ll be able to survive two or three such matches consecutively, which is what he might have to do to win the iconic 25th Grand Slam he chases.

All of these are not something out of a fairytale. These are real-world problems for Djokovic that won’t go away with age, so if you ask whether he can win a Grand Slam again, the answer is yes. Of course, he can; the tennis side was never a problem for him. The Serb played really well at the Australian Open, at times his best level in over a year, but his body might prove a hurdle too big in his record-breaking Slam hunt.

Roger Federer stopped because his body gave out. Rafael Nadal stopped because his body gave out. Novak Djokovic will likely stop because his body will give out sooner than his tennis skills evaporate.

It might be happening in real time. Time will tell, but the trends are troubling, and trends rarely lie.