Roger Federer backs Novak Djokovic for a 25th major and breaks down the injury wave hitting Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
Back at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2019, Roger Federer said Novak Djokovic can still reach 25 majors, named Carlos Alcaraz as the opponent he most regrets never facing, and warned that no player can peak twenty times a year.
Roger Federer, New York 2026 | © Andrew Schwartz/SIPA
Roger Federer said Novak Djokovic remains capable of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title, and that the only thing standing between the Serb and the trophy is the draw.
“I feel like whenever Novak enters any tournament, for that matter, or a major, he’ll be in it with a shot anyway,” Federer told reporters at Flushing Meadows on Monday. “That’s my opinion. I have very high regard for Novak. I’ve seen what he can do – not just once, not just here, not just there. He’s done it in every place, and at the highest of levels. So I always think that as long as he’s in the draw, there is a chance, and I think that’s also one of the reasons he’s still playing, because he actually truly must believe that he can still do it, and that’s my opinion, too.”
Djokovic, 38, arrives in New York seeded third and still on 24 majors, the record he has been chasing since the 2023 US Open, which remains his last. He reached the Australian Open final in January, losing in four sets to Carlos Alcaraz, and has lost in the Wimbledon semi-finals. Federer has played him 50 times (27-23 Djokovic).
The Swiss, who was at the tournament ahead of an exhibition on Arthur Ashe Stadium and his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday, was speaking at a US Open reshaped by absence and recovery. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew on 21 August with a right knee injury. Alcaraz is back after four months out with a wrist problem that cost him Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, and defends the title he won here last year.
Federer on Alcaraz: “he’s exciting”
Asked whom he would most like to face if he could enter one more main draw, Federer named the two men who define the era he missed.
“Well, maybe Carlos. I think he’s exciting,” he said. “I never got a chance to play against him, or Sinner, the same. We only practised together a little bit as they were coming up, so I missed that generation, unfortunately, a little bit, and there’s a bunch of those guys I just missed because of my knee issues. Obviously Novak would be cool too. He’s still going strong and he’s still hanging in there.”
He added: “It’s nice to see Carlos back and I’m happy he made it in time, so we’ll see how he’s going to feel. But I don’t have to worry about how I would play him, because I’m not in the draw. I wish him the best.”
On the injuries themselves he was careful not to diagnose from the outside, but he identified the point in the calendar where a setback does the most damage.
“Every injury is different, right? So some are unfortunate, some are because maybe you just pushed a little too far and then you got hit with something, or it’s an accumulation of a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t know the seriousness and how it all came about, but obviously the most unfortunate time to get hit with an injury is right before the French, and then you kind of miss the French and Wimbledon, because that comes and goes back to back, and then obviously it’s a struggle for the Open, and we’ve seen that with Carlos.”
Obviously I always tried to keep a good schedule in terms of enough breaks. But that’s easier said than done
Federer’s own answer to the problem was a schedule he protected and, by his own admission, sometimes did not.
“Obviously I always tried to keep a good schedule in terms of enough breaks. But that’s easier said than done,” he said. “I took a lot of chances as well, where I piled on maybe a couple more tournaments than I should have, but kind of made it through the tournaments. So I think what’s important is also to prioritise what’s important to you. And that could be the American swing here, or Australia for the Aussies. Everybody has different times of the year when you want to peak, because you can’t peak, clearly, twenty times a year. And I think fans shouldn’t forget that as well. It’s hard to peak every single match.”
He pointed to the expanded Masters 1000 events, most of which now run over close to a fortnight, as a change the locker room is still absorbing.
“But I think now that we see the two weeks in the Masters 1000s, that’s an interesting new dynamic, which I think the players are probably mentally and physically adjusting to with their fitness coaches and coaches in general,” he said.
Federer “able to play from January to November”
Federer played a full calendar for most of his career and rejected the model Pete Sampras adopted late in his, when the American reduced his season to the majors.
“I’m proud of the fact that I was able to play from January to November throughout. I never really missed indoor season, or Australia, or any of the American swings. I kind of showed up everywhere,” he said. “But obviously we were always very careful of what’s next. And I never really wanted to make it all about the slams as well. I remember Pistol talked a lot about how it was slams only for him towards the end of the career, and I didn’t like the fact that that was going to be my case. I liked too many other tournaments and I love the ATP Tour, so from that standpoint I really tried to keep everything a priority, but obviously the body as number one, to be honest. And also the well-being mentally, because if you keep on playing all the time, you also get a bit worn out, obviously.”
The season has also brought the end of two careers Federer measured himself against. Kei Nishikori, who announced in April that he will retire at the end of 2026, and Stan Wawrinka, who has said the same, are both playing their last US Open.
“It’s sad seeing the likes of Nishikori and Wawrinka and others go,” Federer said. “So from that standpoint, it’s been a pleasure having played against them, no doubt.”
