John McEnroe has backed Novak Djokovic to dispel any notion of retiring soon and win his 25th Grand Slam, eclipsing the current record he shares with tennis legend Margaret Court.

The Serbian star claimed the last accolade eluding him by winning a gold medal at the Olympics for his country, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in last month’s final, but ended 2024 without a Major win – the first time he has done so since 2017.

Djokovic suffered a disappointing third-round exit at the US Open at the hands of Alexei Popyrin, leaving many to wonder if the 37-year-old may consider retirement amid his diminishing prospects at Grand Slams.

“You never want to count him out,” McEnroe told Eurosport when asked if Djokovic will win a major next year. “This would certainly be the first time where you could say with some seriousness that you start to wonder if he’s going to win again.

“How long can this guy keep motivated? Then he won the Olympic gold. I’m amazed that he’s kept it (motivation) for this long.”

Djokovic reached the semi-final at the beginning of the year at the Australian Open, before withdrawing at the quarter-final stage of the French Open and then losing to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

The year before he won three out of the four possible Majors, going down to Alcaraz again in a Wimbledon final classic. And McEnroe has raised fears that Djokovic may have lost the “fear factor” he possessed in previous years.

“I’m sure to be surprised either way,” the American added. “If he doesn’t win (a major), you would be like wow – he won three of the four last year. And now we’re saying he’ll never win it again.

“And then I would sort of be surprised in a way if he did, because (of) his age. At some point, that catches up to you, and you lose a little bit of that fear factor with some of the guys.

“Then guys that didn’t think they had a chance feel like they have a chance, and that whole thing changes and makes it much tougher. That’s what he’s facing right now. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to pull it off. But I do think he’ll try to find that motivation to get number 25.”

Concerns had been raised over the future of tennis, with Djokovic and Rafael Nadal soon to follow Roger Federer and Andy Murray into retirement.

But 2024 has shown that the new guard led by Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are not afraid to step up to the mantle, posing questions over Djokovic’s future and chances of winning a 25th Slam.