Former top-30 player Steve Johnson cannot see Novak Djokovic securing a 25th Grand Slam title after falling short in his bid to qualify for the ATP Finals.

After his first-round exit at the US Open in September, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Djokovic as his health and physical struggles took centre stage.

However, the 39-year-old rolled back the years to win the China Open, beating top five stars Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev at the ATP 500 event.

But, the Serbian followed that up with early defeats in Shanghai, Basel, and Paris, as Djokovic failed to qualify for the ATP Finals for only the second time in his last 20 seasons.

Now, former world No 21 Johnson, who had a 0-1 record against Djokovic, thinks the 24-time major winner won’t add to his Grand Slam haul and, as he inches closer to 40, his big title-winning days may be over.

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He said on Nothing Major, “I am going to be honest, guys, I was very bullish on Novak Djokovic the last six weeks when he was saying, ‘I want to make Turin’. I was thinking he is going to make it; it’s Novak. Why would I think otherwise? He wins Beijing, and then you think Novak is right here.

“Not a great loss in Shanghai after that; loses to Struff (in Basel), loses to Rinky Hijikata (in Paris). I think it’s official for me that Novak is not in contention for any big tournaments anymore. I’m done. You never count him out, but I am starting to feel like 25 is not happening.”

Former top 10 player John Isner, however, pushed back on his co-host’s claim, saying that maintaining consistency at that age is very tough and he will be a force to be reckoned with at the Australian Open.

He said, “I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s hard at this age to put together successive good results. That is what we saw in Asia. Your body just can’t back that up at 39 years old, even Novak.

“But during the course of one tournament, where you are solely focused on one tournament, and you have a lot of adrenaline… It’s not an outlandish statement by you by any means, but I am pumping the brakes on it, because he has his favourite Slam in two months’ time in Australia.”

Indeed, Djokovic beat Jannik Sinner in last year’s Australian Open, before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the final. He also reached the Wimbledon semi-finals this year and can beat anyone on his day.

Whether he can produce more magic at another major remains to be seen, especially as his last Grand Slam triumph came at the 2023 US Open.