Novak Djokovic has lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the 2025 French Open, and now the big question is whether the Serbian will ever win a Grand Slam again in an era of Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner Grand Slam finals. We’re going to break it down and try to answer the question.
To be honest, the possibility seems fuzzy right now. Before you get all riled up and we get barraged with comments, let’s take a look at what Djokovic did in this year’s French Open.
Unlike some previous Grand Slams, Novak Djokovic performed well at this event. Yes, he had a relatively easy draw, which allowed him to preserve energy for the later stages, but he showed in the match against Alexander Zverev that he can, at times, still play something resembling his best tennis.
Trending
It’s not actually Djokovic's best tennis, but sometimes he gets close to it. However, he didn’t bring that to the match against Sinner. While he had moments where it looked like that, overall, it wasn’t really the best that he could do on the tennis court.
Sinner won without too many issues. He didn’t drop a single set and never looked in danger of losing the match. Does that mean that Djokovic won’t win any more Grand Slams? Not directly, but it’s not looking good. He’s still good enough to make a deep run at events.
When Djokovic faces the best in the world, truly the best in the world and not the pretenders, he doesn’t really have what it takes. It’s not so much about the tennis side either. The tiebreak against Sinner showed that he lacked the power and the agility to really keep up with Sinner or somebody so good and young.
While Novak Djokovic's shots were still crisp, he’s a step too slow, doesn’t get to the ball on time, and has to risk more than he usually would, resulting in more errors. So, based on everything we’ve seen from Djokovic this year and at the French Open, nothing suggests that he’s going to fine-tune things in the coming months.
What does the future hold for Novak Djokovic?
This is the other question that many people will be wondering about. If Novak Djokovic isn’t good enough to win Grand Slams anymore, why play at all? He said in the past that he would keep going while he could still play at the highest level. We’re slowly rolling into the territory of him not at what he would deem the highest level.
Making the semifinals wasn't really what Djokovic wanted to do. He wanted to win these events, and it’s been a few of them where he’s failed to do that. He’s not getting any younger, so while Sinner and Alcaraz are expected to become even better players, Djokovic technically can only go down.
So what does the future hold? It’s tough to say, but Grand Slams seem to be unlikely. Maybe he can catch some lightning in a bottle and win one more, but that would be about it. The best thing that Djokovic could potentially do with his career is to extend some of the records. He’s up to 100 titles in his career.
Maybe Novak Djokovic can push past Roger Federer if he plays some smaller events. He might take down the record of Jimmy Connors, who has the most at 109. That’s the one he’s been on record about wanting to break.
The most important would be to get the 25th Grand Slam, putting himself above anyone. Nobody ever won that much, as Margaret Court finished with 24. Djokovic tied her, but moving past her seems unlikely.
There will be lots of debating in the coming days. As for Djokovic, he’ll get back to try and see whether he can potentially have one final hurrah at Wimbledon.
There were some encouraging signs in Paris, and if he can build upon that, he might have a chance. Grass is an odd surface, and he’s one of the best to do it on grass. There are only two players who can stop him. Those aren’t terrible odds, and he’s the best ever, so if somebody can pull a rabbit out of his hat, it’s Novak Djokovic. Time will tell whether he will.
How did Novak Djokovic meet Jelena Ristic? All about the most admired couples in tennis
