Melbourne: And then there was one: The Big Three is down to just Novak Djokovic, who stands alone from a golden generation of men’s tennis now that Rafael Nadal has joined Roger Federer in retirement.
The Australian Open, which started Sunday (Saturday night EST), is the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025 — and the first major championship to be held since Nadal, 38, played his final match at the Davis Cup in November. Federer’s last match came in 2021, although he didn’t announce he was done until 2022.
“It’s coming to an end, this era. It’s tough for us. We grew up watching all of them. We saw them winning all the events,” said Francisco Cerúndolo, a 26-year-old from Argentina who’s been ranked in the top 20. “Then suddenly we started playing against them, sharing the locker room or practicing with them, having conversations with them.”
Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 Slam trophies at Melbourne Park since making his Grand Slam debut there in 2005, and was scheduled to begin his bid for Nos. 11 and 25 on Monday against 19-year-old Californian Nishesh Basavareddy, who recently announced he was leaving Stanford University to turn pro.
“It’s a nice number of years that I’ve been coming to Australia,” Djokovic said, “the place where I had the greatest Grand Slam success.”
One big change for him as he seeks to become the first player in tennis history with 25 major singles titles: He is being coached, at least for this event, by his former on-court rival, Andy Murray, who retired as a player last August.
“We thought we’d give it a go and see if I can help,” said Murray, who collected three major titles and two Olympic singles gold medals. “Novak is not just one of the best tennis players of all-time. He’s one of the best athletes of all-time.”
One other difference this time in Melbourne is that Djokovic was accompanied by his wife and two children.
Basavareddy, roughly half the age of the 37-year-old Djokovic, grew up cheering for the Serb, as did plenty of other current players.
“He’s been my favorite player ever since I started watching (tennis), really,” at about age 6 or 7, Basavareddy said. “Just watched a lot of his matches and tried to learn from him.”
Some opted for Federer, a 20-time major champ, or Nadal, who won 22 Slam titles, as role models, of course.
As time passes, inevitably, Djokovic will move on from his playing days. Just not yet.
And even if he went without a Grand Slam triumph last season for the first time since 2017, the man many call “Nole” did manage to collect the only piece of significant hardware missing from his tremendous resume, an Olympic singles gold medal.
Aiming to rebound from what, for him, was a so-so season, hampered by a surgically repaired knee — the Paris Games success represented his only tournament victory — Djokovic cut his 2024 short, skipping the ATP Finals, and got to work in the offseason with Murray.
Now folks inside and outside the sport wonder how much, exactly, the No. 7-seeded Djokovic plans to compete and what, exactly, he can continue to win.
“It was a sad moment when Roger went, because the injuries had a lot to do with it. And Rafa also struggled with injuries. Nole is still quite fit, I have to say,” said Wesley Koolhof, 35, who retired last year with one Grand Slam title in men’s doubles and one in mixed doubles. “You know it’s going to happen at one point that all the legends are going to retire. Nole is still going strong. Who knows how many years he has left in him?”
There is little doubt among his fellow players that Djokovic is not to be dismissed.
“For me,” said Alexander Zverev, a two-time major finalist who is seeded No. 2 in Australia, “he’s still one of the best players in the world.”
Asked what he expects to see from Djokovic in Australia, Carlos Alcaraz smiled and replied: “A really dangerous player.”
“If he goes to Australia … hungry,” said Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals and lost to him in the Olympic final, “(he) is going to be one of the favorites to win.
AP
