Novak Djokovic and Jim Courier
Tennis great Jim Courier has backed Novak Djokovic to “stay around and continue to be a problem for the top guys” in the 2025 season.
The former world No 1 assessed, though, that this year was “a big shift” as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split the four Grand Slam titles between them.
Djokovic‘s two victories against top 10 players in 2024 were against Carlos Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics gold medal match and Taylor Fritz in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals.
The legendary Serb’s four defeats to opponents ranked in the top 10 this year came against Jannik Sinner (twice), Casper Ruud and Alcaraz.
The 37-year-old’s superb Olympic triumph was his only title of the season, while he was also a runner-up at Wimbledon and in Shanghai.
Sinner won the Australian Open and the US Open this year, while Alcaraz did the French Open-Wimbledon double. Djokovic won his 24th and most recent major at the 2023 US Open.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Courier assessed Djokovic’s 2024 campaign and pointed to the meniscus injury he suffered at the French Open.
“Well, let’s factor in that he might have won Roland Garros this year, right? He’s playing there, he’s starting to find his form — he gets injured,” the American said.
“And then it was a miracle for him to even make it to the starting line at Wimbledon, let alone get to the final on basically one leg. And he clearly was not moving at the level he needed to to compete with Carlos in that final.
“But then, lo and behold, a month later he’s wearing a gold medal, and you could see the difference in his movement from there.
“But after that, it didn’t seem that he was as engaged when he came across for the US [Open], and frankly I was surprised he played Shanghai.
“I thought he might just pull the pin on the rest of the season and hit the reboot button. But, went to Shanghai and made the finals there, another good effort.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion argued that Djokovic, who finishes the season as the world No 7, will remain a serious threat to the top players.
“Novak, I think will continue to stay around and be a problem for the top guys,” Courier added. “But it’s going to be up to him how much he is going to engage with them, and it’s certainly not going to be on a full level.
“So, this year is, no question, a big shift. All four of the majors went to the youth.”
