Novak Djokovic explains what he’s ‘missing’ in order to keep up with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

During his pre-tournament press conference, the 38-year-old was asked how the rest of the tour can close the gap on Alcaraz and Sinner. He replied: “I don’t know what the others are missing, to be honest.

“I can speak on my own behalf. I’m missing a little bit of juice in my legs, to be honest, to be able to compete with these guys at the later stages of a Grand Slam.

“But I’m definitely giving my best as I have in ’25, and I think I have done very well and challenged them on their route to the title.

“I lost, yeah, three out of four slams against either Sinner or Alcaraz. We don’t need to praise them too much. They have been praised enough (smiling).

“We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces of men’s tennis at the moment.”

The Serb is currently ranked fourth in the world heading into this year’s Australian Open but doesn’t feel that his ranking will affect how he approaches matches early in Melbourne.

He said: “I’m still trying to be in the mix. Not rankings-wise, being No 4 without really being focused on that, is also great, but you know, obviously I’m grateful to have a better ranking so that I could have eventually better draws in…the first several rounds.

“That doesn’t affect my approach slam…my priority is really taking care of my body…treating every match like it’s finals but at the same time building momentum…not spending unnecessary energy and hopefully going far again.”

Djo joked about facing one or both players this month. He added: “I mean…I would love a chance fight one those or maybe both here Let’s see if happens.”

Djokovic opens Australian Open campaign against Pedro Martinez

Djokovic’s first match of 2026 will come at the Australian Open after he pulled out of the Adelaide International earlier in the year.

The 38-year-old’s opening-round opponent is Pedro Martinez, who is ranked 71st and has never faced Djokovic before.

Should he make it through, Djokovic will then face either Francesco Maestrelli or Cincinnati semi-finalist Terence Atmane.

This year, Djokovic is seeded fourth and has been drawn on the same side as Jannik Sinner.