Vijay Amritraj Marvels at Novak Djokovic's Relentless Drive for 25th Grand Slam

'What motivates this guy after all that he's won?': Indian tennis icon Vijay Amritraj marvels at Djokovic's relentless pursuit of history

New Delhi, June 27

Amritraj identified Djokovic's pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam title as the tournament's biggest storyline, while also weighing in on the next generation led by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

For Amritraj, Djokovic's sustained hunger after winning virtually everything the sport has to offer is what continues to set him apart.

"You're absolutely right, the first thing is we should talk about Novak Djokovic. What motivates this guy to go after everything after all that he's won? He has won both singles titles in any other major in history, and nobody is going to catch him, certainly not in my lifetime. And so I think that he's going after 25 for no other reason but his entire passion and desire to put work into it," Amritraj told IANS during JioStar Media Day ahead of Wimbledon 2026.

The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist also backed World No. 1 Jannik Sinner to remain a dominant force despite his recent disappointment in Paris, saying the Italian has repeatedly shown the ability to bounce back from setbacks.

"Secondly, when you look at the scenario and see exactly what happened to him in Paris, I mean, it was over the top heat, but at the end of the day, from that position to actually losing five sets, but the way he has come back to the past, it happened to him in Australia when he was up against Djokovic and then eventually won Indian Wells in Miami. So I think he's the kind of guy who's there to stay, no question. He's authentic, the real deal, and he's going to Wimbledon once again for Grand Slams as well," the recent Padma Bhushan awardee added.

Amritraj added that the men's draw remains wide open with Carlos Alcaraz expected to return to contention, while newly-crowned French Open champion Alexander Zverev could arrive at the All England Club carrying the confidence of finally ending his wait for a major title.

He said, "And certainly, we're all waiting for Alcaraz to come back. Of course, there are going to be new confident players like Zverev, who won the French Open. So someone like that will think to himself, today, 'listen, the monkey's off my back, I've won my first major, now I'm going to go, and I think I can win Wimbledon as well.'"

Beyond the on-court rivalries, Amritraj said Wimbledon continues to occupy a unique place in world sport, describing it as an event that transcends tennis and retains an unmatched appeal irrespective of the players competing.

"This event is really not just only a tennis event, you know, it is a sporting base of the British summer here in the UK and it's incredible because for the entire fortnight it's so hard to get a ticket and irrespective of who's playing, so it just shows the brand value of Wimbledon and the partnership that we have with Star that can actually deliver the television viewership in India, which is arguably the largest in the world now as far as the country that gets involved in our sport, so I think when we look at both of these together, Star is carrying Wimbledon forever and I just feel that I have been there as well just as long and so I'm really excited about annually how this particular event evolves from a standpoint of the players," the JioStar expert mentioned.

— IANS