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Novak Djokovic's 2026: His toughest season in 20 years
In a season of lows for Djokovic, old streaks have come to an end.
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For a while, it looked like Novak Djokovic was in for one more routine evening at the Paris Masters, a tournament he has won seven times, more than anyone in history.
He wrapped up the opening set 6-2 in 37 minutes against Australia's Rinky Hijikata, whom he had beaten in both Brisbane and Miami last year. But the Australian fought back.
Drawing on his aggressive groundstrokes, the world No. 83 disrupted the Serb's rhythm and outlasted him in baseline exchanges to pull off a upset against the former world No.1
Perhaps the change of venue had something to do with it. The Masters 1000 event moved to Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre in 2025, leaving behind the Accor Arena in Bercy, where Djokovic had lifted all seven of his titles, the last coming in 2023. Bercy was also where he set the tournament record for most quarter-final appearances (eight).
But in a season of lows for Djokovic, old streaks have come to an end. Wednesday's defeat brought his 2026 campaign to a close, leaving him with a win-loss record of 21-10. His winning percentage of 67.7 is his lowest in a season since 2005, when he was a teenager still finding his feet on the tour.
The defeat also ended his hopes of earning a spot in the ATP Finals. The door had opened after a few top seeds crashed out earlier in the evening, but Djokovic could not capitalise.
It is only the second time in 20 seasons that he will miss the year-end event, after 2017, when he ended his season in July because of a persistent right elbow injury. The last time he played a full season but failed to qualify was in 2006.
This was also the first time in 16 years that Djokovic failed to reach a Masters 1000 final, and the first season since 2005 that he did not even make the quarter-finals at that level. He played just five Masters 1000 events this year, with his best result being a Round of 16 appearance at Indian Wells. He skipped Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and the Canadian Open.
His worst result this year, however, came at the US Open, where Argentina's Mariano Navone beat him in five sets in the opening round in New York. It was Djokovic's first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam in 20 years, and his first ever at Flushing Meadows.
Now 39, Djokovic has not looked quite himself this season. In 2025, he reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams, showing that he still had the fire to chase that elusive 25th Major title.
Currently the joint-all time record holder with Margaret Court on 24 singles Grand Slam titles, he beat two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner to reach the final at the Australian Open in January. But the physicality of the sport caught up with him in the title match against Carlos Alcaraz.
Physical issues, whose causes remain unclear even to him, began to affect him at the Cincinnati Open and resurfaced at the US Open. Djokovic himself has acknowledged that he is still trying to understand them.
“It’s just a condition that I have, health wise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years,” Djokovic had said during the Cincinnati Masters. “(It causes) a lot of issues, especially when it is humid and it is hot."
Beijing offered a brief respite. He won the China Open for a seventh time, claiming his 102nd career title and moving within one of Roger Federer's tally of 103. It was a reminder of what he can still achieve when his body allows him to compete freely. That proved to be the only title he would win this year.
A first-round defeat to Hubert Hurkacz followed in Shanghai, then came the defeats to to Jan-Lennard Struff in Basel and Hijikata in Paris. And with that, his 2026 season came to an end.
The last time his numbers were this modest was in 2005, when, as a 17-year-old ranked 188th in the world, he made his Grand Slam debut and lost 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 to Marat Safin. By the end of that season, he had broken into the top 100. He won his first title the following year in Amersfoort, added another in Metz that autumn and climbed to No. 16 in the world.
Djokovic, currently the world No.11, says he will be at the Australian Open in January, where he will have a finalist's points haul to defend. But 2027 will be less about whether he still has the tennis to compete at the highest level and more about whether his body will allow him to show it.
