Novak Djokovic’s former coach has explained how he believes the 24-time Grand Slam champion will ultimately be forced to retire.
The 37-year-old has had one of his worst seasons in years but seems as motivated as ever to keep playing, hiring a new mentor in Andy Murray and signing up for extra tournaments in 2025.
But Andre Agassi thinks Djokovic will be forced to slow down as he gets older, also warning the world No. 7 how “emotionally” difficult it will be to compete without his biggest rivals.
By his standards, 2024 hasn’t been a good year for Djokovic. He suffered some early exits at big tournaments like the US Open and Wimbledon, won just one title and ended his season in early October.
His sole title was the one he wanted, an Olympic gold medal, though Outside of the Paris 2024 Games, Djokovic struggled with motivation and limited his schedule.
However, the Serb is keen to keep pushing in 2025. He has a new coach – old rival Murray – and has already shared his aim to compete more often to give himself the best chance of lifting more Grand Slam titles.
But Agassi believes that age will soon catch up to Djokovic, explaining that the 37-year-old will likely run out of energy even if his tennis remains faultless. “It’s hard to say, Father Time always wins,” the retired tennis icon said.
“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.”
There’s something else Agassi believes his old charge will struggle with too. Djokovic is the last man standing from the Big Four era as Murray and Rafael Nadal retired this year, joining Roger Federer, who ended his career in 2022.
While Djokovic has now hired Murray as his coach, eight-time Major winner Agassi says nothing will beat competing against his biggest rivals. He continued: “It cannot be easy, especially when the people you came to the dance with have left, that’s a big thing.
“When Pete [Sampras] retired, it was a blow to me. It set me back a little bit. It made me have to rediscover my inspirations on some level.
“And [Djokovic] has lost the guys that he’s made history with. So, it’s probably emotionally going to get tougher and tougher quickly, but I would never bet against him. Bet against him at your own peril.”
Djokovic will be keen to prove his old coach wrong when he heads to Australia at the end of the month.
The world No. 7 will start his season at the Brisbane International before attempting to win his 25th Grand Slam title at the Aussie Open, where Murray is expected to be in his box.
Djokovic has also signed up for the Doha Open in February, which has been upgraded from an ATP 250 event to an ATP 500.
