Novak Djokovic has a new record in sight at Indian Wells amid injury concerns

Novak Djokovic’s start of the 2025 season hasn’t gone as expected. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had to retire from his semi-finals match against Alexander Zverev in Australia, and then was defeated by Matteo Berrettini in the first round of Doha. However, the Serbian is set to compete at Indian Wells where he can break a joint-record with Roger Federer.

Djokovic and Federer shared the honor of being the players with the most Indian Wells titles, with five. As the tournament confirmed his participation in the upcoming edition, which starts from March 2 to March 16, the Serbian will have another opportunity to clinch another solo record, and keep adding more reasons to be called the ‘greatest of all time.’

However, Djokovic is coming to the California desert amid injuries concerns. He suffered a tear in his left hamstring during his four-set win against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open last month. After his retirement in Melbourne and his loss to Berrettini, fans of the Serbian star are worried about his health status.

“I didn’t have any pain or discomfort in that sense. I was outplayed by just a better player today,” Djokovic told reporters in Doha. “Yes, I wasn’t at my desired level, and it could be that I’m still not moving the way I want to move, but, I mean, I played without pain, so there is no excuse for that.”

However, there’s a video of him appearing to limp while he walked in an airport in Doha. This raised concerns that the world No. 7 may have returned from his hamstring tear too soon and suffered a recurrence.

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Andy Murray sets to accompany Djokovic at Indian Wells

After failing in Doha, Djokovic revealed that he and Andy Murray, who joined his coaching staff ahead of the Australian Open, will resume their working relationship. “I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept,” Djokovic, 37, told the ATP Tour’s media channel.

“It’s indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together but we agreed we are going to work most likely in the [United] States and then some clay-court tournaments and see how it goes after that,” he added.

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