Novak Djokovic might be the most successful tennis player in the history of the sport, but that doesn't mean he can't make wrong decisions.
The Serbian player won his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, and in 2024, he couldn't expand his collection of trophies. Winning the 25th major would mean that Djokovic would stand alone on the top of the history tables, and it's clear that in 2025, that will be his main goal.
To reach that goal, Djokovic announced during the 2024 season that he wouldn't be playing as many tournaments as he once used to. At 37, he wants to focus more on preserving his body to be able to continue playing.
That's why he said that he wants to play only at Grand Slams and tournaments necessary for him to prepare for the majors. However, that approach might not be correct, at least according to the 1987 Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash.
Cash recently talked to Tennis365, and he explained how playing less influences tennis players in a negative way, as they lose the so-called match toughness, especially at Grand Slams.
"Older players fall into this trap every time that they are trying to save their body and they don’t always get a good balance on playing enough matches. You tend to see older players start to lose five-set matches or have more bad days and that’s natural."
"That’s match toughness. I know Novak has played a lot of matches over the course of his career, but he still needs to be match-tough going into a best-of-five-set Grand Slam tournament."
Cash also explained how not playing enough might actually cause the exact opposite - playing a lot. If a player enters a Grand Slam without too many matches played, they might need to fight more in their early rounds, directly influencing their chances of succeeding later on.
"We often say you can’t afford to get into tough five-set matches in the first week of a Slam as you need to stay fresh and that’s especially true when you get older."
"If you don’t have enough matches under your belt and you play a long one early on, I tell you what, you are going to be so sore."
Still, Cash believes that with Andy Murray now in Djokovic's team, the British player might help the 24-time Grand Slam winner to adjust his calendar properly, as Murray was always a player who played a lot.
"Andy has had a lot of injuries, but he always tried to play a lot of tournaments through to the end of his career and for me, that’s the big secret for Novak in the next year. If he can get his schedule right and make sure he has the right number of matches under his belt, he can win again."
It seems that this might be the route that Djokovic will take in 2025, despite previously signaling the exact opposite. He has already signed up for the Brisbane International, and he will also play at the Qatar Open in Doha.