Tennis legend makes huge Novak Djokovic prediction

Novak Djokovic ended 2024 without a major title, the first time he failed to capture any of the four slams in a calendar year since his injury-riddled 2017.

The turn of events led some to question his immediate tennis mortality, with some even forecasting that his retirement could be on the horizon. However, John McEnroe has refused to count out the Serbian star.

In an interview with Eurosport , the American legend expressed confidence that Djokovic will win his 25th major in 2025 to break the tie with Margaret Court for most slams across men and women.

"You never want to count him out," McEnroe said of the 37-year-old Djokovic. "This would certainly be the first time where you could say with some seriousness that you start to wonder if he's going to win again. How long can this guy keep motivated? Then he won the Olympic gold. I'm amazed that he's kept it [motivation] for this long... It will be interesting to see if he's able to pull it off. But I do think he'll try to find that motivation to get number 25."

While Djokovic didn't win a slam in 2024, he had a solid year that saw him reach the semifinals at the Australian Open, the quarterfinals at the French Open (injury withdrawal) and the final at Wimbledon, besides winning his maiden Olympic gold medal in Paris.

As such, it would be rather premature to suggest that Djokovic has lost a step or two — a narrative that Roger Federer had to deal with for nearly two years before he called it quits in 2021 or the one facing Rafael Nadal over the last 12 months.

Djokovic has previously said that he isn't yearning for a storybook ending to his career, and plans to continue playing until he's physically unable to. To that end, he has already declared his intention to return to the Olympic stage in Los Angeles in 2028 when he would be well into his 40s.

The Serbian's early ouster from the U.S. Open (third round) has seen him drop to the fourth seed in the latest ATP rankings. He remains in contention for the year-ending ATP Finals in Saudi Arabia.