Novak Djokovic reveals how he plans to challenge young rivals in 2025

The 37-year-old tennis legend asserted that he is "ready to compete" and do "whatever it takes" to compete with his young rivals.

In his first singles match of the 2025 season, Djokovic saw off world No 73 Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Brisbane International.

The Serbian will face Gael Monfils, against whom he holds a 19-0 record, in the second round of the ATP 250 event on Thursday. He is seeking his 100th ATP singles title in Brisbane.

Djokovic also got two doubles matches under his belt in Brisbane as he partnered Nick Kyrgios at the Aussie's comeback event.

On their debut as a doubles team, the surprise pairing prevailed 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-8 against Alexander Erler and Andreas Mies in the opening round. Djokovic and Kyrgios then lost 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 to top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus in the second round.

After Brisbane, Djokovic will aim to win a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam overall. Sinner and Alcaraz each won two majors in 2024, with Djokovic's most recent Slam triumph coming at the 2023 US Open.

Following his victory over Hijikata in Brisbane, Djokovic was asked if he needs to make any changes to keep up with young stars like Sinner and Alcaraz.

"Well, I'm not looking to transform my game completely," the world No 7 divulged.

"I mean, I'm not going to be Giovanni [Mpetshi Perricard] serving two first serves and coming in to the net (smiling), but I definitely am looking to improve, even if it's the slightest percentage, every single shot that I have in my game, and maybe something that people don't necessarily see is this court positioning, the transition play, the tactics.

"Yeah, just focusing mostly on myself, really, how I can be better physically, game-wise, mentally, as well. And ready to compete, whatever it takes, however many hours it takes with the youngsters.

"And then, of course, you know, I think in the upcoming weeks, we will also, particularly the week before Australian Open, do a lot of video analysis of my main opponents, top guys, trying to understand how my game matches up against theirs and what I have done in the past well, what I can improve.

"So there is quite a bit of analytics in there, and I am that kind of person. I like to go into details.

"But when the tournament starts, I like to keep things conceptually simple and the base needs to be there, and then of course there is always something each day that kind of surfaces that you need to address."

Djokovic also spoke about his partnership with his former rival Andy Murray, who he appointed as his new coach ahead of the 2025 season.

"Just overall very nice and strange feeling to have him on the same side of the court (smiling)," the former world No 1 said.

"You know, we've been rivals for 20-plus years and always kind of kept secrets from each other, the way we practised, the way we prepared, the way we approached the matches. Never wanted to show weakness to your main opponents, your rivals.

"But now it's different.

"So to have a legend of the game, someone that is known to be as an intelligent tennis player as there is out there, it's a great honour, great pleasure for me."

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