With 25th Grand Slam looking increasingly uncertain, Novak Djokovic could fulfill another dream next year

Novak Djokovic is in the twilight of his career and is increasingly finding it difficult to fulfill his dream of winning a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam, thanks mainly to the meteoric rise of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the last couple of years.

Djokovic continues to astonish the tennis world by going deep in the Majors, but finds himself unable to match Sinner and Alcaraz’s intensity and energy levels on the court towards the end. And at the age of 38, ‘Djoker’ will be well aware of the fact that he has but a handful of matches left in him at the top level before he joins his long-time rivals Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in retirement.

There is, however, one box that Djokovic can check in his wishlist before he brings the curtains down on his illustrious career and that is helping Serbia win the Davis Cup.

The veteran star had recently stated that he was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his energy levels over the course of five sets, which was evident in his US Open semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual champion Alcaraz in straight sets where he looked completely exhausted in the third set.

Davis Cup offers Djokovic a silver lining in the twilight of his career

Five-set matches, however, are limited only to men’s singles matches in Grand Slams; every other match in professional tennis in men’s, women’s and mixed categories are best-of-three-sets affairs. And this is where Djokovic, who remains among the top players in the world even at this age, might fare better than at Grand Slams.

Djokovic had missed Serbia’s home tie against Turkiye recently, but his compatriots managed to pull off a 3-1 victory in their World Group I tie nevertheless to propel their nation into the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers.

So while Djokovic sat out of contest that took place in Nis, Serbia and concluded on Saturday, he could be representing his nation in next year’s qualifiers.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion was part of the Serbian team that defeated France 3-2 to win the title in 2010, and helping his nation win the prestigious tournament for a second time wouldn’t be a bad way for him to sign off from the sport.