By Novak Djokovic,TennisUpToDate.com

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Former world number one Bjorn Borg has given his verdict
about whether Serbia’s Novak Djokovic can still win his 25th Grand
Slam title. The 38-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest, if not the
greatest, in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won 24 Grand
Slam titles.

No player in the history of the Open era, men or women, has managed to win 25 major titles in the singles category, and there is no one other than Djokovic who is still active and within touching distance of achieving that incredible milestone. The problem, however, is that he is ageing, and there is a rise of two new superstars: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik

Both players have been simply sensational on the court
and have shared the last eight Grand Slams in the previous 24 months. In 2025,
Alcaraz and Sinner faced off in the final of three out of four major titles. On
the positive side, though, Djokovic has remained undeterred by the emergence of younger talents like Alcaraz and Sinner and has produced some incredible tennis himself in significant events.

Djokovic was only the second player in 2025, after
Sinner, to reach the semifinals of every Grand Slam. But that’s where his
journey ended every single time. On three out of four occasions, he came short
while competing against Sinner and Alcaraz. The most recent of those incidents occurred at the US Open, where Djokovic lost to the newly crowned world number one, Alcaraz, who emerged victorious in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.

After the match, Djokovic admitted that age has finally caught him and that he is finding it hard to compete against the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner, especially in the later stages of the competition, where matches can go to five sets.

Djokovic ‘greatest’ to play the game, says Borg

“I lost three out of four Slams in semis against these
guys [the other came against Alexander Zverev in Melbourne], so they’re just
too good, playing on a really high level,” said Djokovic back in early
Septmeber. “Best-of-five makes it very, very difficult for me to play them,
particularly if it’s at the end stages of the Grand Slams. “I’m happy with my
level of tennis, but it’s just the physicality of it. I’m going to do my very
best to get my body in shape to sustain that level and that rhythm for as many
hours as it’s needed, but it wasn’t enough today. That’s something I,
unfortunately at this point in time in my career, can’t control. I can do only
as much as I can do. It will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome
the hurdle of Sinner, Alcaraz, in best-of-five at the Grand Slams. I think I
have a better chance in best-of-three, but best-of-five, it’s tough.”

Former world number one Borg has recently spoken to Sky
Sports, where he gave his verdict about Djokovic’s chances of winning a Grand
Slam in the future. Borg, in the first phase of the interview, called Djokovic ‘the
greatest player to ever play the game’ and then went on to state that, in his opinion,
the 38-year-old can still go on and win another Grand Slam before calling it

“I think the way he’s playing, Djokovic, for me, is
the greatest player to have ever played the game,” said Borg. “And then the
second place comes to (Roger) Federer and (Rafa) Nadal. They tied for the
second place. It’s amazing how he can play that kind of tennis, 38 years old.
I’m very impressed. I know he wants to win that 25th Grand Slam tournament. I
hope he’s going to play one more year, at least next year too, because the
tennis he’s playing. It’s going to be tough with (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos)
Alcaraz and some other players too, but still, he can do it.”