At 38-years-old, Novak Djokovic remains one of the top players on the ATP Tour. The Serb’s 2025 season saw him reach the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events and his continued dominance has forced Andrey Rublev’s coach Marat Safin to deliver an embarrassing assessment of the ‘New Generation’ players.
Djokovic is currently ranked No.4 in the world despite having competed in less than 15 tournaments last year. While the 38-year-old has been forced to slow down in recent seasons as he tries to get the most out of his body during Grand Slams, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the only two players on the Tour who have proven to be a challenge for the former World No.1. Recently, Marat Safin weighed in on the tennis star’s continued dominance, telling 10 News,
Thanks for the submission!
“Novak is still playing at a great level. It’s something wrong with the new generation. I don’t want to take credit away from Novak of course, he’s a professional, he’s the best in the history of tennis but still, come on guys.”
Safin himself competed on the ATP Tour between 1997 and 2009. The Russian was ranked No.1 in the world for nine weeks during this time. He also has two Grand Slam titles to his name, having won the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open. Safin turned his talents to coaching in 2025 and he has been working with compatriot Andrey Rublev since then.
Novak Djokovic confident he can ‘beat anybody’ as he gears up for the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic displayed consistent performances at all Major tournaments last year, but the Serb failed to clear the semifinals hurdles each time as he battled both his opponents and his exhaustion. As he gears up for his 21st Australian Open campaign, the Serb recently revealed that he is confident that he can ‘beat anybody’ on a good day, telling media,
“I know that when I’m healthy, when I’m able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together on a given day, I feel like I can beat anybody. And if I didn’t have that self-belief and confidence in myself, I definitely wouldn’t be here sitting and talking to you guys or competing.”
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open campaign on Monday, January 19 with a battle against Spain’s Pedro Martinez. The 38-year-old is pursuing an 11th Australian Open title and a 25th Grand Slam trophy, with reigning World No.1 and 2 Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner standing between him and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Edited by Riddhi Acharya
