Roger Federer – who will participate in the Arthur Ashe show event this week – believes that Novak Djokovic can completely win his 25th Grand Slam title at the US Open 2026, thereby surpassing Margaret Court's record of 24 singles titles.
For a long time Federer has not played in front of a crowd of spectators on a world-class tennis court, so the performance match on Tuesday (August 25th) with Andy Roddick, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi will surely evoke many beautiful memories.
Besides affirming that he will not return to playing professionally, the Swiss legend believes Djokovic is capable of reaching the milestone of 25 Grand Slams.
The 39-year-old Serbian tennis player won his most recent major title in 2023 when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in 3 sets at the US Open. And according to Federer, Flushing Meadows is very likely to mark Djokovic's next historical milestone.
Every time Novak participates in any tournament or Grand Slam, he has a chance," Federer said at the press conference, "I highly appreciate Novak. I have witnessed what he has done, not just once, not just here, but everywhere and at the highest level.
As long as he is still on the squad, the opportunity for him is still always present. I believe that is one of the reasons he continues to play, because I really believe I can still do it, and that is also my perspective.
Federer's assessment has more basis when a few days ago, world No. 1 player Jannik Sinner decided to withdraw from this year's US Open due to a problem with his right knee.
According to head-to-head statistics, Djokovic won 5, Sinner won 7. Among these, 4/5 of Nole's wins against the young Italian player were from 2023 and before.
Djokovic's most recent victory over Sinner was in the Australian Open semi-finals, before his opponent demanded revenge on the Wimbledon grass court.
Clearly, Sinner's absence is a reason to further strengthen Djokovic's chances. And although Carlos Alcaraz is still there, the Spanish player has only just returned after more than 4 months of rest due to a wrist injury.
At the US Open 2026, Alexander Zverev was promoted to No. 1 seed, but Djokovic still outperformed in the confrontation (9/5), most recently in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.
The only problem Djokovic needs to improve is his ability to finish the match when he has a lead advantage (4/5 defeats in 2026 fall into this situation) and prolonged matches when he is 39 years old.
Returning to Federer, his last professional singles match took place more than 5 years ago, when he lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the Wimbledon quarterfinals at the age of 39.
Serena Williams, who was born less than 2 months after Federer, has proven that impressive reappears can still happen at the age of U45. However, Federer quickly extinguished all doubts about him following in Serena's footsteps after agreeing to participate in the performance match.
No, no, not at all," Federer replied when asked about the possibility of reappearing, "Thank you for asking. I'm not sure if this question is raised or not, but I'm very happy that you asked so I can clarify in case someone speculates.
The legendary Arthur Ashe court has witnessed Federer step onto the highest podium at the US Open 5 times.
