He came very close to breaking Margaret Court’s record of 24 overall at Wimbledon, but lost in the final to Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard won his fourth Grand Slam title at SW19 after triumphing at the French Open, but Alcaraz needs to be more consistent if he has hopes of emulating Djokovic.

Up first in 2025 for the star duo is the Australian Open, where the Serbian reigns supreme thanks to his record-10 titles.

Novak Djokovic suffers heaviest ever Grand Slam loss at the Australian Open

But the 37-year-old will not want to have any flashbacks of his debut at the Grand Slam, in what was indeed his first-ever Grand Slam appearance.

A baby-faced Djokovic took to the Melbourne court for the first time all the way back in 2005, with the qualifier drawn against Marat Safin in round one.

READ MORE: Who is Novak Djokovic? Step inside the life of the 24-time Grand Slam champion

He certainly could have been given a much easier welcome to Grand Slam life, with the Russian having been a former world number one and a major champion.

Moreover, he was out for revenge, with the Russian having won the 2000 US Open but having lost the 2002 and 2004 Australian Opens.

And that hunger was evident from the first minute, with Safin easing past Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, in what is the latter’s heaviest Grand Slam defeat to this day.

Marat Safin wins 2005 Australian Open after beating Novak Djokovic

If Djokovic needed more reassurance that the margin of his defeat was nothing to stress over, it was indeed Safin who went on to lift the trophy in Melbourne.

The fourth seed got revenge over his 2004 Australian Open final opponent Roger Federer in the semi-finals, before clinching a final win over home favourite Lleyton Hewitt.

READ MORE: What Roger Federer said was ‘brutal’ for Novak Djokovic in his first-ever Grand Slam final at the 2007 US Open

In a high-quality tournament, it was the top four seeds who reached the last four, with third see Hewitt having beaten second seed Andy Roddick in their semi-final.

Djokovic meanwhile has gone on to create his own history at the Grand Slam, and now has a great chance to extend his record.

But that won’t be easy with the new kids on the block, primarily his somewhat old nemesis Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner.

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