“He has struggled physically at Majors this year” – Lajovic on Novak Djokovic

Overview

• Novak Djokovic is preparing to return to action at the US Open 2025.
• Dusan Lajovic backs Djokovic to once again challenge Sinner and Alcaraz.
• After his Wimbledon campaign, Djokovic decided to skip all tournaments till the US Open 2025.

Novak Djokovic is preparing to return to action at the US Open 2025. After his Wimbledon campaign, the 24-time Grand Slam winner decided to skip all tournaments in the build-up to the year’s final major. While top stars like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are currently competing at the Cincinnati Open, Djokovic has stayed away from match practice.

However, Dusan Lajovic believes this will not affect Djokovic’s chances in New York. As quoted by Tennis World, he backed the former world number one to once again challenge Sinner and Alcaraz.

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"Entering a Major without lead-up matches would be a problem for 97% of players, but not for Novak. He did that in the past, especially in Australia, after not playing for a month and a half. To tell the truth, Novak is only warming up in the first three rounds at Majors. It's a kind of preparation for him, similar to what others have in Toronto and Cincinnati,” Lajovic said.

“It's never easy to play after missing a month and a half" - Lajovic on Djokovic

He explained that Djokovic’s decision to take a break is linked to fitness and recovery, which will matter most in the later stages of the majors like the US Open. “Novak's rivals feel that he is not as dominant as he was a couple of years ago, and they see their chances against him. On the other hand, he prioritizes his body and physical strength instead of feeling the ball right from the start of the tournament,” Lajovic added.

According to him, Djokovic’s struggles in recent Majors were more physical than technical. “It's never easy to play after missing a month and a half, but Novak is preparing to be physically strong in the closing stages, not at the beginning. He has struggled physically at Majors this year,” he said.

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Looking ahead, Lajovic stressed that Djokovic’s challenge lies in handling intense back-to-back matches against elite players. “If he manages to endure back-to-back matches against the top-10 rivals, he will be on level terms with Carlos and Jannik. They are physically stronger than him, but when Novak performs at his best, he is unbeatable,” Lajovic concluded.