Following his tough loss at the US Open against World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic’s future looked uncertain. The Serb entered 2025 with two big goals: a 100th career tour title and a 25th Grand Slam. He got his 100th in Geneva. That left only the Slam. But when he fell in the semifinals in New York, at the last slam of the season, questions started swirling. Would he come back again? With the Asian swing approaching, doubt was in the air.

The short answer? Yes, he is! The 38-year-old legend is back on a court he loves. He will return at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The tournament’s official X page dropped the announcement, posting: “He’s back 🤩 Our 4-time champ, @DjokerNole will return to Shanghai this year!” How exciting is that?

Novak Djokovic has been out on the practice courts in Athens over the past week. His name stayed on the Shanghai entry list, keeping fans hopeful. Still, with his 2025 focus locked only on Grand Slams, skipping warmups ahead of Wimbledon and the US Open, that hope felt fragile.

Now it’s real. He’s heading back to Shanghai, a tournament close to his heart. It’s a place where he stands alone as the king. He owns the record for the most Shanghai Masters titles, winning it four times in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018. On these hard courts, he built his dominance and became the tournament’s all-time leader. Last year was painful. He lost in the final to Jannik Sinner. This year? It could be different. What do you think?

So far after the US Open, Novak Djokovic stepped back from competing with Team Serbia in the Davis Cup. Still, he showed up in the stands, watching Stefanos Tsitsipas take on Joao Fonseca. Explaining why he didn’t play, he said, “I wished I could have played the Davis Cup. Representing my country throughout my career has been an honor and a privilege. I always look forward to playing for Serbia, but it all depends on my body, as I want to be the best option for our team.”

Now, he’s gearing up for a return at a Masters tournament. But even so, he wasn’t exactly sure about returning to the court after New York.

Novak Djokovic voices uncertainty over next tournament

After the U.S. Open, Djokovic admitted he wasn’t sure how much tennis he’d play for the rest of the season. “It’s really still a question mark where I’m going to go and what I’m going to do,” he said. One thing is certain, though, he plans to compete at the Hellenic Championship in Athens at the start of November. The tournament, now licensed to his family after being staged in Belgrade, conveniently ends the day before the ATP Finals in Turin. Djokovic skipped those Finals last year.

Before Athens, there’s another stop. In mid-October, Novak Djokovic is set to headline the star-packed Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s a lucrative exhibition, and with the way the calendar is shaping up, it adds another layer of intrigue to where his focus will fall.

The real buzz, though, is around Shanghai. Nole  raised eyebrows after his U.S. Open exit when he suggested his chances improve against Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner in best-of-three formats. “I do fancy my chances a bit more in best-of-three, I guess, one-week tournaments or the Masters tournaments where you have almost two weeks with quite a few days between matches,” he said after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.

It was a telling comment after a season where he lost to Alcaraz and Sinner in three of the four slams, and where even in his Australian Open run, despite beating the Spaniard in the quarters, he was forced to retire in the semis against Alexander Zverev due to a hamstring injury.

Now, Shanghai could be his testing ground. At 38, one-week tournaments may punish his body less, and a strong run could sharpen his momentum heading toward Melbourne. More importantly, it could lock in the top-four ranking, giving him a much kinder draw at the Australian Open. That’s where Novak Djokovic will go hunting for an 11th crown, and with it, a record-breaking 25th major. What do you think? Drop your predictions in the comments below!