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Djokovic Still Motivated To Win
The Straits Times
|December 27, 2024
Bid for historic 25th Major title keeps 37-year-old's fire burning as he begins season in Brisbane
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SYDNEY - Novak Djokovic is confident that he can still win tennis Grand Slams, as he bids for an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title and record 25th Major crown in 2025.
The Serb starts the new season at the warmup Brisbane International event from Dec 29 to Jan 5 and he is joined at the Queensland Tennis Centre by the top-ranked women's player Aryna Sabalenka, who is gunning for a third Melbourne Park trophy.
There is also the mixed-team United Cup in Perth and Sydney starting on Dec 27, headlined by world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in her first tournament since revelations that she served a one-month doping suspension.
The spotlight, however, will be on the 37-year-old Djokovic.
It is the first season since he began playing that none of the other so-called "Big Four" will be on the other side of the net following the retirements in 2024 of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Roger Federer called it quits in 2022.
As they faded, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz stepped up to become the new Grand Slam kings, with both men opting against a warmup tournament leading into the first Slam of the year which begins on Jan 12.
This story is from the December 27, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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