“Has he played enough matches? Has he trained hard enough?" - Former Wimbledon champion questions Novak Djokovic's chances for Australian Open

Novak Djokovic is set to travel to Australia in the hunt for a mind-blowing 11th Australian Open title and an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title. However, his chances of success may be relying on the big two to falter, according to Pat Cash, who marvelled at the longevity of the Serbian.

The 38-year-old has been around the block for around two decades now, beginning as a talented youngster with a bright future before going on to become one of the greatest and most dominant tennis players to ever play the sport.

Up until 2023, he was highly regarded as still the best player on tour, but that baton has been passed over to the younger generation, most prominently Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner who have both taken the reigns of men's tennis. Even the mighty Djokovic has not been able to get the better of them, falling to four consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals in 2025.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash firmly placed the world number one and two as the favourites, believing that Djokovic needs some luck to go his way if he is to go on and clinch the title. “He needs two of them to fall over, that’s the reality of it,” Cash told Tennis365. “So I’m very, very interested to see how he goes."

The Aussie also explained why Djokovic needs to be careful when on court not to go over the red line as he turned the conversation about his age. "It's a fine balance at the end of your career to find where you are training hard enough to be fit enough to last two, even three, five set matches, but the not pushing it too far," he stated. "So training hard enough to be able to last that, training too hard enough that you don’t get injured."

The Australian Open is a brutal event, and one which suited Djokovic over the years, hence the 10 titles. He could deal with the brutal heat and humidity on the court, giving him the upper hand over his opponents. However, this is not the same Djokovic of 10 years ago.

“You need to save enough in the tank so that you don’t get worn out and then not overtraining that you get injured before you go in there," Cash continued. "When you are younger, you can keep pushing and while you get tired, if you play a five-set match when you are younger, you know you can bounce back quickly. As you get later in your career, it just wanes off. I mean, that’s just the reality of it. So for Novak to be able to still going is, is absolutely phenomenal."

In Djokovic's long career, it has obviously not always gone his way. Nevertheless, he has still found ways and tricks to bypass these obstacles which has helped him continued to stay at the pinnacle of tennis. The latest problem has been age, with his focus on recovery and rehabilitation a key factor in preserving his body.

“He’s always coming up with solutions to problems, so it will be really interesting to see how he goes at the Australian Open," Cash said. He went to question whether the lack of time on court would affect him. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was in line to play in the Adelaide International but pulleld out with him not in pristine condition.

“Has he played enough matches? Has he trained hard enough? Is he saving his body just for the matches? And if so, will that work?" he queried. “I don’t see him beating Alcaraz and Sinner in back-to-back five-set matches and that’s his problem. He can get to the semi-final again, but then he is likely to have a familiar problem.”

There are questions on whether Djokovic can keep up in the blistering heat over four or five hours now. If he is dragged into a dogfight, will he be able to keep up and most importantly, find a way of winning it.

If so, in a sense it defies science and what medics would state. “It’s a sort of a new, it’s slightly new field where he could go to every sports science person in the world,” Cash said. “The medics would say, we don’t really know what a 39-year-old can do over two weeks of playing in a four and five hour tennis matches in heat. We just don’t know."

Cash is fascinated to see the results of this, with it right up his alley way. “They will say, go out, tell us what you did, how you did it, or tell us what you tried to and we can work out if it works or not. As a bit of a geek in that sort of field, fitness and how the body ages, I’m fascinated to see exactly how he goes in these long matches."

He concluded by arguing that Djokovic should not be playing at the level he is with age a factor, with him intrigued to see with what he comes up with next. “The last couple of years would point to the fact that he can’t quite back it up and that’s completely natural, but we’ll see if Novak can find a solution.”