2025 in the world of tennis is expected to be extremely interesting and intriguing in several different aspects. Many things happened in the outgoing 2024 - some set the direction of the sport for the coming years, others raise question marks, and still others will find their answers in the coming calendar year. There are many topics, but a few capture attention - the Novak Djokovic/Andy Murray duo, the possible suspension of world number 1 in men's tennis Jannik Sinner and the renaissance in the game of Bulgaria's best tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, how long can he continue and in what form.
One of the most interesting moments in 2024 came at the end of the season, when the record Grand Slam title holder and former world number one Novak Djokovic made one of the more unconventional decisions of his career, appointing one of his greatest rivals on the court, Andy Murray, to his coaching staff. “I’m looking forward to spending time with Novak on the same side of the net”, the Briton commented on the news, and Djokovic announced the news with a video of the two posted on X. “He didn’t like being retired anyway. We’ve been playing against each other since we were kids, we’ve had a 25-year rivalry. We’ve had epic battles, I thought our story was over, but it turns out there’s a final chapter”.
The pair will work together in pre-season training and ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open. Melbourne is the Joker's favorite place - 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles are in Australia. On the other hand, Murray, who ended his competitive career earlier in 2024, has five AO finals, losing all five, and in four of them he fell victim to Djokovic. This is just one of the nuances that make this partnership on the court so curious as a solution in the final stages of the Serb's career. We should not forget that the two are also good friends, which also contributed to the fact that the two work together.
Three-time Melbourne champion and Eurosport analyst Mats Wilander recently said that he sees in Murray "someone with the potential to become one of the best coaches". Well, we are yet to find out whether the two-time Olympic champion can actually improve and help Djokovic in one of the tournaments in which the two fought fierce battles. One thing is certain – both are extremely experienced when it comes to the Australian Open, so this tandem will be closely watched by all fans and tennis experts.
How the men's tennis season will develop largely depends on a decision whose final date is still unclear. Jannik Sinner, the leader in the rankings, who in 2024 won two Slam titles, three Masters 1000 titles and a total of eight singles trophies, including the ATP Finals on home soil in Turin, will learn his fate sometime in 2025. Sinner was caught with two positive doping samples for low levels of the banned substance clostebol, a steroid used to increase muscle mass. The positive tests came at the Masters tournament in Indian Wells in March, but the Italian was never punished. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner, saying that the clostebol had inadvertently entered his system after his former physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, used a spray to treat a wound on his hand.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), however, appealed the ITIA’s decision, calling for a ban of “between one and two years.” Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) would rule in 2025, leaving Sinner’s future uncertain. Given his form in 2024 and the undoubted improvement in every aspect of his game, a possible ban would not only hurt his image but also his chances of establishing dominance in the years to come. The 23-year-old Italian is already guilty in the eyes of his colleagues, both men and women, after what happened and the fact that he avoided suspension, as he became the champion of the US Open at the end of the year, triumphed in Turin, and also led Italy to a victory in the Davis Cup team tournament. We will still find out what the CAS decision is, and the world number 1 will hope that he will not be suspended, regardless of the period, as he starts the year with an important title defense in Australia. Sinner will not play in preparatory tournaments before Melbourne.
However, this is not the case with Bulgaria's best tennis player – Grigor Dimitrov. The 33-year-old starts the new season in the last days of 2024 – at the tournament in Brisbane, where he won his only title in the calendar year. The competition in the Australian city starts on December 30 and will run until January 6, and Grigor is seeded No. 2, behind Djokovic. Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda, Alejandro Tabilo, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson (the last two Australians) complete the top 8 among the seeded players in the main draw. The competition for Dimitrov is there, as this will also be the first tournament of the Djokovic/Murray duo, but the Bulgarian will hope that 2025 will also start properly. And going back to 2024, the Haskovo-born player certainly has something positive to take with him, which he can carry into the new year.
In addition to the triumph in Brisbane, Grigor played three more finals – Marseille (lost to Ugo Humbert), the Miami Masters (lost to Sinner) and Stockholm (lost to Tommy Paul). The good performance during the year was also reflected in the world rankings, where Dimitrov finished in the top 10 for the first time since 2017. The Bulgarian also added a prize to his collection – he was elected Sportsman of the Year by his colleagues. We should not forget the emotions he made us experience in the exhibition match with Djokovic at Arena 8888 in Sofia back in September, so there are prerequisites for a strong 2025. The two most important things about Grigor, fundamental for possible new successes on the court, are his physical condition and psychological resilience. Dimitrov suffered from injuries in 2024, which did not allow him to make any breakthroughs in the big tournaments. Psychologically, he showed growth compared to previous years and must maintain this if he wants to be successful. But the physique of a 33-34-year-old person is not the same as the early years of a tennis player and the Bulgarian will have to very carefully specify where and how to invest in order to extend not only his chances for new trophies, but also the opportunities to play tennis for a longer period of time.
There are endless topics when it comes to tennis, but these three will be of utmost importance to both domestic and foreign fans. 2025 promises to be very exciting and unpredictable in many aspects, and we should not miss tennis players such as Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev in the men's division, as well as the battle at the top in the women's division between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, in addition to other dangerous tennis players such as Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina. 2025 is shaping up to be another great experience for tennis fans around the world and, as always, will ask questions, but also provide answers. | BGNES
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Stefan Ignatov, Editor in the Sports Department of BGNES
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