Novak Djokovic is keeping coy about his chances of glory at the US Open, where he is chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam title at the age of 39.
The former world No.1 hasn’t triumphed in New York since 2023 but reached the semi-finals last year before losing to Carlos Alcaraz, who went on to claim the title. Coming into this year’s tournament, Djokovic has only played one Tour-level match since Wimbledon. That was at the Cincinnati Masters where he won the first set before suffering a shock loss to Argentina’s Thiago Tirante.
“I don’t like early losses anywhere but it gave me time to prepare for the US Open in a most adequate way,” Djokovic told reporters in New York on Saturday.
“I had two weeks to really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what’s coming up.”
During the later stages of his career, Djokovic has prioritised his schedule around the four major events. The US Open will be only his seventh tournament of 2026, but he has missed some of this season due to injury.
“If you ask me if I’m prepared, I feel like I am as best as I can be, but it’s different training and then getting out on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and playing best-of-five,” he explains.
“You don’t normally play best-of-five in the practice sessions.”
Djokovic’s opening match on Sunday evening will be against Mariano Navone, who is currently ranked 49th in the world and defeated a top 20 player recently at the Canadian Masters (Valentin Vacherot). However, the Argentine has yet to reach the quarter-finals of a hardcourt ATP event above the 250 level this season.
On paper, Djokovic is the heavy favourite but he is not downplaying the challenges he faces in the early rounds. Should he beat Navone, he will then play either Stan Wawrinka or Matteo Berrettini.
“The opening matches are always, for me, particularly in the last few years, quite challenging,” he admits.
“Hopefully I can overcome the first hurdle and build from there.”
Djokovic is playing in his 20th US Open main draw.
