Novak Djokovic might not have won a Grand Slam tournament in 2024, but he's still capable of doing it, according to Patrick Mouratoglou.
The 2024 season was one of the least successful seasons of the Serbian legend's career. Apart from the Olympics, he has not won a single title on the ATP Tour, meaning he will end the season with only one tournament victory unless he participates at the ATP Finals.
That would mark the lowest mark in Djokovic's tennis career, as the lowest number of titles he has won was two, which happened in 2005, 2010, and 2017. However, at the Paris Olympics, he proved that he can still beat the best.
He bested Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the final of the tournament, proving that he can still compete against the best when he's motivated enough.
Noted tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who spoke to Tennis365, reminded fans that only last year, Djokovic won three out of four majors and that he should certainly not be counted out.
"I think he had a very bad year, but it came after an incredible year. Let’s not forget that only last year he won three Grand Slams and played in the final of the other."
"So we shouldn’t forget that was just one year ago, not ten years ago, just one year ago. He won the Olympics which was his main focus this year, beating Carlos in the final, playing fantastic tennis, so he is not far away."
Djokovic recently withdrew from the Paris Masters, confirming his plan to focus only on Grand Slam tournaments. His next could be the 2025 Australian Open, and Mouratoglou thinks the 37-year-old can win the trophy.
"I think he can beat them (Sinner and Alcaraz). It’s very hard, there was a lot of margin before, but now there is none. When he plays them I think anyone can win, but I don’t think he’s far behind. I think he can still win Grand Slams, I’m sure about it."
Mouratoglou also highlighted the main factor when it comes to Djokovic's possible Grand Slam wins - his motivation. The 24-time Grand Slam winner was incredibly motivated for this year's Olympics, and he won.
If he can find the same motivation also for other tournaments, the French coach thinks that the Serbian still has a couple more major titles in him.
"For Novak, it’s only about his motivation. I understand that he struggles with it at the moment because all his career was about beating the other two and being better than them, that was the fight of his life in tennis and he won."
"So to keep his motivation now, it’s very difficult. Now that Rafa is retiring, the whole year that was the problem, that’s how I see it, I don’t know if I’m right, but this year for Novak was tough."
According to Mouratoglou, Djokovic's struggles with motivation are related to Rafael Nadal's retirement, as the Spaniard's career end means that Djokovic will end the 'GOAT Race' with most Grand Slam titles.
"This is because from the start of the season, you could see that Rafa was struggling so much and probably came to his mind, well I won. When you fight all your life for something and you finally get it, where do you find the motivation?"
"So I hope this difficult year is something he will be able to use to feed his motivation and come back next year as good as the previous one because then we’ll have a fight between those three that is going to be unbelievable and I want to see it."
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