Djokovic Praised For Choosing Not To 'Chase Money' In Middle East By Former No. 1
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Novak Djokovic will start his 2025 season in Australia to the delight of many fans an also former World No. 1 on the ATP Tour, Pat Rafter.
The Serbian tennis player emphasized many times during the 2024 season that his sole focus in 2025 will be majors. The first Grand Slam of the season is the Australian Open, and that's also the tournament that he wants to prepare the best for, given his incredible success in Melbourne.
To prepare for the Melbourne Slam, the 24-time Grand Slam champion chose the Brisbane International as his first tournament of the 2025 season.
It is an ATP 250 tournament, but also thanks to Djokovic's participation in Brisbane, the field at the tournament will be incredibly strong, with the likes of Holger Rune and Grigor Dimitrov also being on the entry list.
It will be Djokovic's second time in Brisbane after he previously lost in the first round of the 2009 edition of the tournament, so in 2025, he will return to the Queensland Tennis Centre, a venue which has the Centre Court named after former World No. 1, Pat Rafter.
Djokovic will obviously play at the Pat Rafter Arena, and the two-time US Open champion made comments about Djokovic's participation, as per Fox Sports.
The 51-year-old Australian praised Djokovic for choosing the Brisbane International instead of going to "chase money in the Middle East," suggesting some players opt for worse preparation at exhibitions instead of playing ATP events.
"This is not just preparation for the Australian Open – this is a fair dinkum tournament. You want to be making sure you’re playing your best tennis here. To be here and preparing is what you should be doing."
"A lot of guys go and chase some money, go to the Middle East or something like that, to play but for me, that’s not the best lead in for the Australian Open. It’s about winning, preparing, playing the best matches, and as many matches as you can. That’s all part of your journey to the Aussie Open."
Although Djokovic won't go to the Middle East ahead of the 2025 season, he already participated in one tournament in the region in 2024, having taken part at the Six Kings Slam.
In 2025, his focus shifted to proper preparation, and the Brisbane International tournament director, Cam Pearson, couldn't be more happy to welcome yet another player of the Big Three in Brisbane.
Rafael Nadal reached the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International in 2017 and 2024, while Roger Federer reached the final every time he played, which was every year from 2014 to 2016, even though he won the title only once, in 2015.
"He’s been here before, (and) he knows what to expect. He’s played on this court (Pat Rafter Arena) a few times … it was probably an easy decision for him to make. We had Roger (Federer) for a number of years, then Rafa (Nadal), and now Novak again."
"We’ve been incredibly blessed here in Brisbane to have the three ‘GOATS’, and you could argue that Novak is the ‘GOAT’ on his own. Stats boffins among us will remember Roger won his 1000th ATP tour singles match on this court. What a fairytale it would be if Novak won his 100th title on the same court."
