Novak Djokovic officially confirmed his participation in his first tournament of the 2025 ATP season, and he will start already before the Australian Open.
During the 2024 season, the 37-year-old Serbian player said multiple times that in 2025, he would like to focus only on Grand Slam tournaments and representing Serbia at the Davis Cup.
Recently, however, he seemingly changed his mind, as he said that he wants to play as much as possible, and he now confirmed those words by signing up for his first tournament of the 2025 season.
While the 2025 Australian Open will start on January 12th in Melbourne, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will be in action already two weeks prior to that, technically starting his 2025 season already in 2024, as the event starts on December 30th, 2024.
The Brisbane International, which is an ATP 250 tournament played at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, is a tournament located a two-hour flight away from the first Grand Slam of the season, making it an ideal place for a warm-up tournament.
That's why Djokovic signed up for this event, in which he participated only once in his life, in 2009. Back then, he surprisingly lost already in the first round to Ernests Gulbis, 4-6, 4-6.
This year, the Serbian player will want to record his first win in Brisbane and hope to go even further than that. Last year, Grigor Dimitrov bested Holger Rune in the final of the tournament, so despite being only an ATP 250 event, it is often star-studded thanks to its great spot in the calendar.
Naturally, in the statement for the official website of the tournament, Djokovic didn't hide his excitement to join the field for the 2025 Brisbane International.
"I’m excited to be kicking off my Australian swing at the Brisbane International and to compete again at Pat Rafter Arena. I am looking forward to experiencing the incredible support from the Australian fans and making this tournament one to remember."
Of course, he wasn't the only one thrilled that his name appears on the entry list for the tournament in Brisbane. As a 10-time Australian Open champion, Djokovic has plenty of fans in Australia, and those will drive ticket sales.
That certainly made the Tournament Director Cam Pearson delighted, as he was happy to announce that not only the 24-time major winner, but also the WTA World No. 1 player, Aryna Sabalenka, would compete in Brisbane.
"We are thrilled to have Novak headlining the Brisbane International 2025 along with world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. This is by far the strongest field the tournament has seen with 15 of the top-20 men and women players confirmed."
"Add to this multiple highly ranked Australians to inspire the next generation of tennis fans and the event will be huge. We thought that it would be hard to top last year’s line-up but here we are with an even stronger field. I cannot wait for the tournament to get underway and for all the fans to experience the world’s best right here in Brisbane."