Djokovic: I Feel I Can Beat Anybody

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, January 17, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook

Novak Djokovic launched his Australian Open from a court-side seat.

The 10-time AO champion aims to make a stand in his quest for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam crown.

A smiling Djokovic joined a packed Rod Laver Arena crowd watching fellow former No. 1s Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter play an exo on Saturday night.

The fourth-seeded Serbian, who opens against Pedro Martinez in the third quarter of the AO draw, is aiming to break the stronghold Sinner and Alcaraz have on recent Grand Slams. The world’s top two have combined to claim the last eight straight major championships.

Though Djokovic, who withdrew from last week’s Adelaide International, arrives in Melbourne Park without recent match play, his confidence is unwavering.

The Grand Slam king, who lost two major semifinals to Jannik Sinner and the US Open semifinal to Carlos Alcaraz last year, said while the New Two are operating on a different level, he believes he can beat them if he brings his best tennis.

“Look, I know that when I’m healthy, when I’m able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together on a given day, I feel like I can beat anybody,” Djokovic told the media in his pre-tournament presser. “If I don’t have that self-belief and confidence in myself, I wouldn’t be here definitely sitting here and talking to you guys or competing.

“I still have the drive, and of course I understand that, you know, Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else. That’s a fact, but that doesn’t mean that nobody else has a chance. So I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.”

The 38-year-old Serbian superstar defeated Alcaraz in the 2025 AO quarterfinals and looked pretty damn good doing it. Djokovic cites two key components to a deep run in Melbourne: effectiveness and efficiency.

The world No. 4 said he must take care of business quickly in the early rounds to be at full strength should he face either No. 1 Alcaraz or two-time defending champion Sinner later in the tournament.

“I’m missing a little bit of juice in my legs, to be honest, to be able to compete with these guys at the later stages of a Grand Slam,” Djokovic said. “But I’m definitely giving my best as I have in ’25, and I
think I have done very well and challenged them on their route to the title. I lost, yeah, three out of four slams against either Sinner or Alcaraz.

“We don’t need to praise them too much. They have been praised enough (smiling). We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces of the men’s tennis at the moment.”

Djokovic says if he can conserve energy and build momentum in week one, he believes he can make a deep run in week two.

“I know that my priority is really taking care of my body and trying to of course treat every match like it’s finals, but at the same time, build momentum and also not spend unnecessary energy,” Djokovic said. “You know, and hopefully I can go far again and get a chance to play them.”