SYDNEY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic returns to Melbourne Park looking to roll back the apparently inexorabletide of the "Sincaraz" era and produce an Australian Open triumph that would establish him as the most successful Grand Slam champion of all time.
The Serbian clinched his 24th major title at the U.S. Open in late 2023, but Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have since dominated the Grand Slams with a brand of fast-paced tennis that has blown their rivals off the court.
Djokovic, who will be 39 in May, is not impervious to the physical toll two decades on the tour has taken on his body, but only the most foolhardy observer has ever written off one of the mentally toughest players to play the game.
To move out of a tie with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles titles in the Australian's own back yard, though, he looks likely to need to beat one or both of the "New Two" at the business end of the tournament.
Last year, the last survivor of the "Big Three" beat Alcaraz in the quarter-finals only to retire from his semi-final against Alex Zverev with a hamstring tear.
He reached the semi-finals of all four majors in 2025, losing to Sinner in Paris and at Wimbledon, as well as Alcaraz in New York.
"I lost three out of four slams in semis against these guys, so they're just too good, playing on a really high level," he said after his loss at Flushing Meadows.
"Best-of-five makes it very, very difficult for me to play them. Particularly if it's like the end stages of a Grand Slam."
'ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION'
Djokovic pulled out of the warm-up tournament in Adelaide in January but Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley moved quickly to douse any question over the 38-year-old turning up in Melbourne.
"He'll be here to play 100%," Tiley said at the weekend.
"Just out of the abundance of caution, he just wanted to make sure he's 100% ready.He's won this event 10 times. He wants to go for that record, and this is the place that he has the best chance of doing it."
Indeed, Tiley said, it was highly unlikely to be Djokovic's last Australian Open either, tallying with the player's own ambition to defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles in 2028.
Djokovic's battered body might have other plans, though, and his chances of going deep will probably rely on him staying healthy into the second week at Melbourne Park.
He managed ATP titles in Geneva and Athens last year to take his tally to 101 but his best efforts at the longer Masters events were a Miami final and a semi in Shanghai.
It will be his 21st appearance in the main draw at the Australian Open, a run that started as a qualifier in 2005 when he was thumped by eventual champion Marat Safin.
Melbourne's large community of fans with Serbian heritage will ensure he has plenty of support at a tournament where he has otherwise been more admired than loved.
There is no doubting he will go down as one of the tournament's great champions, however, especially as his 10 triumphs came in the "Big Three" era when Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer were also at their peak.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
