It wasn’t to be, however, as Djokovic retired injured against Alexander Zverev during their semi-final match, after losing the first set tiebreaker.

Djokovic was expected to miss ‘months’ of action with a hamstring tear he picked up against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Recovering quicker than expected, the Serb returned in Doha, as Djokovic lost to Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the Qatar Open.

Djokovic has now traveled to the United States for the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament, as one ATP legend admits what he got wrong about the 37-year-old recently.

Andy Roddick says he was wrong about Novak Djokovic and thought he wouldn’t return until Monte Carlo

Speaking on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, former world number one Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on the world number seven’s 2025 season.

“Novak [Djokovic] looked great in Australia, he looked phenomenal beating [Carlos] Alcaraz, he beat [Tomas] Machac, he beat [Jiri] Lehecka, who has since gone on to play great,” he said.

“They were on the shortlist of guys we liked going into the year.

“He beats Alcaraz in a prime time match, he gets hurt, puts out the image of a tear, and I just assume, and I always get it wrong, because I apply what I would take most people to recover from something.

“I didn’t think we were going to see Novak, you put out an image of a tear and it’s not like I know exactly what it is, I just look and know that it’s not great.

“So I sent it to an orthopaedic friend of mine, they say normally it would be six weeks, so in my mind I’m like oh we’re not going to be seeing Novak until maybe Monte Carlo.”

The American then suggested the Indian Wells tournament directors would’ve been delighted to see Djokovic’s quick recovery.

“We have seen him twice, we saw him in Doha and he’s playing Indian Wells,” said Roddick.

“Good for them, you lose [Jannik] Sinner and you gain Djokovic, that’s a good offset for them to not have the number one player in the world.

“But I’m sure at the end of Australia, Indian Wells thought they had no chance of Novak posting for this.”

Novak Djokovic set for potential Nick Kyrgios second-round match at Indian Wells

Djokovic will be searching for a sixth title at Indian Wells this month, having last won in California nine years ago.

He won’t have it easy though, having been placed in what many would likely describe as the tougher half of the draw.

Novak Djokovic’s potential path to the 2025 Indian Wells title

• 2R v Nick Kyrgios
• 3R v Francisco Cerundolo
• 4R v Alex de Minaur
• QF v Carlos Alcaraz
• SF v Taylor Fritz
• F v Alexander Zverev

Should Australia’s Nick Kyrgios advance from his first-round clash with a qualifier, he’ll take on Djokovic for just the fourth time in round two.

Kyrgios and Djokovic teamed up at the Brisbane International earlier this year, and have spoken at length about the respect they have for one another.

When the pair face off on opposite sides of the net it’s surprisingly been the 29-year-old who has had the better of things, leading the head-to-head, 2-1.

He did, however, lose their biggest and most recent encounter, as he fell to defeat in the 2022 Wimbledon final, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-7.

If Djokovic were to beat Kyrgios in the second round, he could take on arguably his greatest ‘active’ rival, Alcaraz, in the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard trails the head-to-head with Djokovic, 3-5, having lost their most recent meeting in Australia.

Plenty for fans of the Serb to look forward to at Indian Wells, when the tournament kicks off on March 5.