Andre Agassi shared his thoughts on the potential challenges that Novak Djokovic might face in the upcoming season. The eight-time Grand Slam champion believes that the retirements of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray this year may cause Djokovic to “run out of energy” in 2025.
The American legend, who made these comments at a recent TIE Global event, took a trip down memory lane to back his point. He admitted candidly that after his biggest rival, Pete Sampras, retired from the sport in the early 2000s, he found it difficult to play with the same motivation as prior to it.
Agassi, who coached Djokovic from 2017-2018, believes that rivalries play a big role in shaping players. Although the American claims that Djokovic can never be written off, his uncertainty about his former pupil comes as a big surprise.
“He’s already done so much, so long, and it’s hard to imagine longer. I think he’ll run out of the energy for it more than the capability of it, I would imagine.”
Andre Agassi says it will be emotionally difficult for Djokovic now that his greatest rivals have left the sport, ‘He’s lost the guys he’s made history with… I think he’ll run out of energy for it more than capability’
“It cannot be easy, especially when the people you came to… pic.twitter.com/ytBvJprNs3
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 12, 2024
Djokovic has often commented that a “part of him left” when Nadal and Federer retired. Being the only remaining member of the ‘Big 3’, and with most of his rivals having retired, it can be challenging for Djokovic to compete against the up-and-coming talents.
However, there is a huge point in Djokovic’s favor, which Agassi seems to have overlooked.
Djokovic had a successful 2023 season without Federer and Nadal playing
After Federer retired in 2022 and Nadal missed out on the entire 2023 season, not many would have predicted that Djokovic would roar again. But he did it in some fashion, winning the Australian Open, French Open and US Open last year.
In fact, the Serb could have created history by becoming the third player after Don Budge and Rod Laver to win all four Grand Slams in a year. But Carlos Alcaraz won the Wimbledon final in five sets against Djokovic.
While Andy Murray did play in the 2023 season, he did not cross paths with Djokovic. Even then, Djokovic’s battles were largely with the younger generation, and he came out on top in nearly all of them.
Smartly, though, Djokovic will have Murray as his coach at the Australian Open 2025. Having someone from his rival group close to him might at least prevent the Serbian from feeling lonely during a long season. However, only time will tell if Djokovic made the right decision.
