Serena Williams’ ex-coach boldly claims that Novak Djokovic will ‘bust his a**’ at Australian Open to dethrone Alcaraz & Sinner

Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs has backed Novak Djokovic to go all the way at the Australian Open 2026, thus breaking Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s stranglehold at the Majors. The two youngsters have won the last eight Majors, and have clearly distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. Speaking on the latest episode of her podcast, the Rennae Stubbs Podcast, Stubbs was going over Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance this year. She felt that Djokovic is the only real contender to challenge them. She theorized that he’s going to make one last push to succeed at the upcoming Australian Open, the most successful tournament of his career. Thanks for the submission! “I think Novak. I’ve said it over and over, I do think Novak is setting his sights. I don’t think he cared about the ATP Finals, clearly he didn’t play it. I think he’s going to put all this time and effort into busting his a** one last time to win down in Australia,” Stubbs said. Stubbs also highlighted Djokovic’s win over Alcaraz at the Australian Open 2025. According to her, even the Serb would fancy his chances of a title if he gets to the business end of the tournament. “I think he’s the only one that can rock the cherry cart for Jannik and Carlos. Carlos has never made the finals there. Novak crushed him last year, one set was really good, but Novak was overall better. So I think Novak goes in there going, I know I can potentially get to a semifinal there and I know I have maybe one more last grasp,” Stubbs said. Stubbs wasn’t as confident of Djokovic beating Sinner. However, given the Serb’s history in Melbourne, it could be the only place where he has a realistic shot at beating his younger rival. “I don’t think he’d beat someone like Jannik on that court. I think Jannik is just too good on that court. But it might be the one place that Novak can,” she concluded. Djokovic made the semifinals of all four Majors in 2025, and lost to either Sinner or Alcaraz in three of them. He will be keen to one-up them in the coming season after they thwarted his attempts of claiming a record 25th Major title. Novak Djokovic won’t face Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner prior to the semifinals of the Australian Open 2026 The top four seeds at the Australian Open 2026 are already locked in. Carlos Alcaraz will headline the draw as the top seed, followed by defending champion Jannik Sinner as the second seed. 2025 finalist Alexander Zverev will be the third seed, followed by Novak Djokovic as the fourth seed. Thus, Djokovic will avoid Alcaraz and Sinner at least until the semifinals. He beat Alcaraz en route to the last four in Melbourne in 2025 but an injury forced him to retire in the middle of his semifinal match against Zverev. Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 Major titles at the Australian Open. He has often played his best tennis Down Under, and thus remains the biggest threat to Alcaraz and Sinner in Melbourne.
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