Novak Djokovic said that he expects a tough challenge in the upcoming Australian Open and refused to name himself the favorite, despite what the bookmakers predict.
The 32-year old Serb has been in magnificent form recently, winning his ninth consecutive hard-court win over Rafael Nadal, who is currently world number 1, on Sunday’s ATP Cup in Sydney. Serbia won the first edition of the event in Sydney.
Djokovic: “I don’t think there are really clear favorites.”
“I think it’s really open, the Australian Open or any other slam,” Djokovic told reporters.
“I don’t think there are really clear favorites. You have obviously (Roger) Federer, Nadal, myself because of the experience and everything and the rankings that we get to be probably named the top three favorites. But then you have Medvedev, (Stefanos) Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem that are really showing some amazing tennis.”
“They showed that they matured on the big stage, that they can challenge the best players in the world and win against them. “So everybody keeps on talking about NextGen player winning a Slam. It seems like it’s getting closer. Hopefully not this year. We’ll see,” he added.
Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer, known as the ‘Big Three’ have won the last 12 Grand Slam titles.
