THE LAST DANCE? WHY THE 2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN COULD BE NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S FINAL ACT
Mark Woodforde warns Novak Djokovic may retire in 2026 if the Australian Open fails. Inside the quest for a 25th Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic is heading into another season with questions swirling around him. Former Grand Slam champ Mark Woodforde thinks Djokovic might hang up his racket sooner than most people expect.
Djokovic is chasing his 25th Grand Slam title—a record—and trying for his 11th Australian Open win. But at 38, he’s up against some tough odds. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been dominating men’s tennis for the past two years, and beating them won’t be easy.
Djokovic has said he wants to stretch his career all the way to the 2028 Olympics, but that’s a huge ask. He’s admitted his motivation isn’t what it used to be.
Now, Woodforde, who has 17 Grand Slam doubles titles, shared his thoughts about where Djokovic’s head might be as he heads into his 22nd Australian Open.
“If he doesn’t have a good result at the AO, I wouldn’t be shocked if he decides to retire,” Woodforde told Tennis365. “That’s just my gut feeling.”
“You can’t put ‘mediocre’ and ‘Novak Djokovic’ in the same sentence,” he added. “Last year, you could blame injuries and recovery from the previous season, but age is catching up with him. It happens fast as you get older. This Australian Open is key. It might decide whether we’ll still see him out there in 2026.”
Pat Cash, another former Wimbledon winner, also weighed in. He said Djokovic is trying to do something almost impossible—win a 25th major against younger opponents.
“I’m really curious to see how he goes,” Cash said.
He talked about how tricky it is at the end of a career to train just enough to last those long, brutal matches, but not so hard that you get hurt.
“You have to save enough energy so you’re not exhausted, but not overdo it and end up injured before the tournament even starts. When you’re young, you can bounce back from a five-set match pretty quickly. Later on, your body just doesn’t recover the same way. That’s just reality. So the fact that Novak is still out there is incredible.”
“He always finds a way to solve problems, so it’s going to be fascinating to see how he handles the Australian Open. Has he played enough? Has he trained enough? Is he pacing himself for the big matches—and will that approach work?”
“I just don’t see him beating Alcaraz and Sinner in back-to-back five-setters. That’s the real challenge. He might make the semis again, but then he runs into the same wall.”
BROOKSBY OUT: AMERICAN STAR'S DREAM RUN ENDS AS DANIIL MEDVEDEV CLINCHES CLINICAL DUBAI VICTORY
Medvedev through. Get the report on his 6-2, 6-1 win and his thoughts on Brooksby’s suspected shoulder injury.
Daniil Medvedev is through to the semi-finals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after beating Jenson Brooksby.
Medvedev has looked sharp in Dubai. He started by beating Juncheng Shang in straight sets, then cruised past Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 16. That win over Wawrinka, who was playing his last match in Dubai, set up this quarter-final against Brooksby.
Honestly, Brooksby never really got going. Medvedev broke him right away in the first game and kept the pressure on for the whole 57 minutes. He didn’t face a single break point and never let Brooksby settle into the match.
Medvedev’s serve looked rock solid, and he was all over Brooksby’s second serve. He won a big chunk of his first-serve points and made the most of his break chances. Brooksby, on the other hand, barely managed a couple of winners the entire match.
The score pretty much tells the story. Medvedev snatched the first set with no trouble, then broke serve three more times in the second to wrap things up without much fuss.
Brooksby, who isn’t even in the top 40, just couldn’t find a way past Medvedev’s depth and clever shot-making on these quick Dubai courts. He barely had any chances to break back.
Now Medvedev gets ready for the semi-finals, where he’ll take on either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jiri Lehecka. He’s looking to keep up his run and go for the title.
After the match, Medvedev said he was happy with how he played and is looking forward to the next round.
“I’m really happy with my level. I think I’m playing better and better with every match,” he said. “A lot of my shots were landing in, and I think maybe he had a shoulder issue, but he’s a tough competitor, so I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“I put in the work during the off-season and came into this year feeling good. I think you can see that paying off now.”
DUBAI OPENER: TOP SEED FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME SURVIVES TENSE TIE-BREAK AGAINST ZHIZHEN ZHANG
Dubai Day 1: Discover how Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a tense tie-break, and Jack Draper made a winning return to the ATP tour.
Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper both made it through to the next round at the Dubai Duty Free ATP 500 Tennis Championships, which kicked off today.
Auger-Aliassime had to dig deep against China’s Zhizhen Zhang, coming out on top 6-3, 7-6 after a match that lasted just under two hours. He grabbed an early break in the first set, but the second set was a battle. He had six chances to close it out before finally getting over the line in a tense tiebreak. Relief was written all over his face as he left the court, stopping to sign loads of autographs for the fans who stuck around.
“I stopped counting the match points at some point; it was getting too frustrating,” Auger-Aliassime admitted afterwards. “As a player, you want to be in that position, but your mind plays tricks. I kept thinking, ‘I’m so much further from losing than he is; he should be the one who’s nervous.’ I just told myself, ‘If it goes to a third set, I’ll be ready.’”
Draper, back on the ATP tour after six months away, looked a bit off at the start and had to save a bunch of break points early on. But he settled in and took down Quentin Halys, a qualifier, 7-6, 6-3.
The British No. 1 had a tense moment at 4-5 in the first set, going to deuce three times before holding serve. He got two break points in the next game but couldn’t capitalise. In the tie-break, Draper shot ahead 5-2, lost his lead, but finally edged it out 10-8.
Asked how it felt to be back, Draper said, “It feels so good. Honestly, just being out here in front of a crowd, playing a tough opponent, it was tricky out there. Sure, I could’ve played a bit cleaner, but I haven’t been on tour for a while, so I’m really proud of today. I just want to keep going. This is what I love about being out here, competing, and feeling that adrenaline again.”
Draper’s time off gave him a chance to work on his serve. “My serve was always solid, but it could’ve been more consistent,” he explained. “I worked on a few mechanics, especially after my pec injury last year and the recent bone stress. I’m always looking for ways to get better. Honestly, my serve feels more reliable now than ever, and I just need to get my arm back to 100%.”
Before the tournament started, Draper and Auger-Aliassime popped by the stadium for a surprise session with young players. They ran drills, shared stories from their own careers, and tried to inspire the next generation.
“I think it’s amazing to give back, especially to kids,” Draper said. “I remember how inspiring it was for me to be around players like Andy Murray when I was younger.”
Elsewhere, Stan Wawrinka beat Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 6-3, and Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard survived three tie-breaks to win 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 against Moez Echargui.
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