Carlos Alcaraz has predicted that Novak Djokovic will be “really dangerous” at the 2025 Australian Open after the great Serb’s difficult 2024 campaign. 

The 21-year-old Spaniard believes Djokovic will be “one of the favourites” to win the title in Melbourne if he is “hungry.”

Djokovic defeated Alcaraz in a thrilling final at the Paris Olympics in August to claim his maiden gold medal and become the first man to win every significant prize in tennis.

That was the only title Djokovic won this year, while he lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final and Jannik Sinner in the Shanghai Masters title match.

Following his loss to Sinner in Shanghai in what was his last competitive match of the season, Djokovic admitted 2024 has been “one of the worst-performing seasons in terms of results” in his career.

The 37-year-old withdrew from the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals in Turin having won both tournaments in an outstanding 2023 season. Djokovic won his 24th and most recent Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open.

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Alcaraz exited the 2024 ATP Finals at the round robin stage after defeats to Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev.

After losing to Zverev in Turin on Friday, Alcaraz was asked what he expects to see from Djokovic at the Australian Open.

“A really dangerous player (smiling). I mean, he deserves to choose what tournaments he’s going to play,” the world No 3 told reporters.

“We’ve seen before that it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t play an official match for two, three, four months because he’s going to come again and be able to win the tournament, be able to show a really high level of tennis.

“So in Australian Open, is depend of the hungry he is. If he goes to Australia with hunger, [he] is going to be one of the favourites to win Australia. Let’s see.

“He’s going to be fresh, for sure. A lot of time with his family, kids, wife. Have time to practise a lot, which is pretty good for a tennis player coming to a tournament with motivations.

“Is going to be a fun player to watch, for sure (smiling).”

Alcaraz’s 2024 season is not yet over as he will feature at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next week.

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