Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs recently stated that Novak Djokovic has the potential to make a final push for his 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, which is his most successful tournament, next year. She mentioned that the Serb is the only player capable of challenging Carlos Alcaraz and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner at the 2026 Melbourne Major.
Novak Djokovic Can Overcome Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz to Win Another Australian Open, Believes Rennae Stubbs
Throughout his career, Djokovic has won the Australian Open title 10 times, the most singles titles by any player in the Open era. His title wins came in 2008, 2011-2013, 2015, 2016, 2019-2021, and 2023. This year, at the Melbourne Major, he defeated Nishesh Basavareddy, Jaime Faria, Tomáš Macháč, and Jiří Lehečka to reach the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, the former World No. 1 defeated Alcaraz and then faced Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. The German advanced to the final after Djokovic retired from their match after the first set due to a torn muscle in his left leg.
Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open and has not secured any Grand Slam titles in 2024 and 2025. Recently, while speaking on “The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast,” Stubbs expressed her belief that the Serb will give his all to win the 2026 Australian Open. She noted that he is the only player who can surpass Alcaraz and Sinner in the tournament, two players who won all the Grand Slam titles in 2024 and 2025.
“I think he’s gonna put all this time and effort into busting his a*se one last time to win down in Australia. I think he’s the only one who can rock the cherry cart for Jannik and for Carlos,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs pointed out that Djokovic had “crushed” Alcaraz this year in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, suggesting that the Serb will enter the tournament next year with the mindset that he can win the title if he can get past the semifinals.
“Carlos has never made the finals there. I mean, look, Novak crushed him down there last year. There was one set that was really good, but overall, Novak was a better player. So I think Novak goes in there going, ‘I know I can potentially get to a semifinal there and I know I have maybe one more last grasp,'” she continued.
However, Stubbs also mentioned that even if Djokovic manages to overcome Alcaraz at the Australian Open, she doesn’t believe he will be able to defeat Sinner, as the Italian plays “too good” at the Australian Grand Slam tournament.
“I don’t think he beats someone like Jannik on that court. I think Jannik is just too good on that court anymore, but it might be the one place that Novak can you know (win). An injury can happen to a player, and you know there have been a couple of players who have slipped through and won a Grand Slam because the top players got injured,” Stubbs added.
The last time Djokovic won the Australian Open title was in 2023. On his path to the final, he defeated Roberto Carballés Baena, Enzo Couacaud, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, and Tommy Paul. In the championship match, he triumphed over Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim his record-extending 10th Australian Open title and 22nd Grand Slam title overall.
