Follow us on Google Discover Novak Djokovic will relax this week and try to claim success in the Six Kings Slam, which is being played in Saudi Arabia.
Last week, Djokovic hailed Valentin Vacherot after he surprisingly knocked him out of the Shanghai Masters to leave him without a big win this year.
Following his defeat to Vacherot who ended up winning the title in Shanghai, a number of pundits have started to have their say on the 38-year-old.
Boris Becker sent Djokovic a message after his latest defeat, whilst Rennae Stubbs also made a claim about the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Now, a former US Open semifinalist has had his say on what he thinks Djokovic needs to do if he’s to return to the tour next year.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesRobbie Koenig makes Novak Djokovic claim
The Serbian powerhouse is still one of the players that the paying spectators want to see, and his drive to win Grand Slam number 25 hasn’t deterred.
Djokovic perhaps needs a little bit of luck when it comes to winning another Grand Slam, with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz sharing the last eight between them.
Koenig thinks that although Djokovic is still supremely talented, he needs to work on something in particular during the off-season.
He said on the Inside In podcast: “It’s still remarkable what he’s able to do. I still love watching him play, standing courtside just watching him warm up. I’m still gobsmacked at what I see.
“My biggest takeaway is, I wonder exactly how much cardio work he’s been doing? I said it the whole year, even when I saw him playing in Australia, I just get the feeling, and this is me guessing, I don’t know, but is he more concerned about keeping the body healthy and not working quite so much on the cardio side, is he neglecting that a little bit because he wants to stay injury free?
“As long as he starts tournaments injury-free, with a lesser lung capacity, there’s a sense that he thinks he can play himself in a little bit and I think we’ve seen a bit of that historically, but I think this year he’s been found short physically, that’s my eye test when I see him even after a couple of games, you can see how heavily he’s breathing and I wonder if he’s not been pushing the cardio as much as other seasons.
“That’s the only fine-tuning I can think to give him. I don’t know if there is anything else in the background, but if I were going to give him a fix in the off-season, it would be a few more sprints, a bit longer on the bike.”
What Jannik Sinner said about playing Novak Djokovic at Six Kings Slam
Last night, Jannik Sinner defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Six Kings Slam to set up a mouthwatering match with Djokovic in the semifinal.
Although the competition taking place in Saudi Arabia is nothing more than an exhibition, the prize money on offer should make the matches pretty good as the tournament progresses.
Sinner has enjoyed some good battles with Djokovic in the past and it’s clear that he’s looking forward to locking horns once again with the player he has a lot of respect for.
He said in his on-court interview after beating Tsitsipas: “We all hope it’s a good match. This is all we hope for. We know each other very well… we’ve played many, many times.
“It’s great to share the court again with Novak. Especially here in front of you guys.
“We’ll just try to play the best possible tennis we can. We’ll just see how it goes. Mostly, we are here to enjoy. To bring tennis here. All we hope is that you guys enjoy. That’s why we’re here.”
Novak Djokovic head-to-head vs Jannik Sinner
These players have competed on 10 occasions, with Sinner winning the rivalry six matches to four.
2025 – Sinner beat Djokovic – Wimbledon2025 – Sinner beat Djokovic – French Open2024 – Sinner beat Djokovic – Shanghai Masters2024 – Sinner beat Djokovic – Australian Open2023 – Sinner beat Djokovic – Davis Cup2023 – Djokovic beat Sinner – ATP Finals2023 – Sinner beat Djokovic – ATP Finals2023 – Djokovic beat Sinner – Wimbledon 2022 – Djokovic beat Sinner – Wimbledon 2022 – Djokovic beat Sinner – Monte-Carlo Masters
In recent times, it’s been Sinner getting the edge over Djokovic and perhaps the Serbian has it all to do to start competing with the Italian player once again.
Largely, the matches are close, however, and hopefully, the pair can serve up another classic when they meet at the Six Kings Slam this week.