Novak Djokovic stands alone at the Australian Open now that Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer retired

Novak Djokovic stands alone as the last of the Big Three in men's tennis, aiming for more Grand Slam titles.

And then there was one: The Big Three is down to just Novak Djokovic, who stands alone from a golden generation of men's tennis now that Rafael Nadal has joined Roger Federer in retirement.

The Australian Open, which started Sunday (Saturday night EST), is the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025 — and the first major championship to be held since Nadal, 38, played his final match at the Davis Cup in November. Federer's last match came in 2021, although he didn't announce he was done until 2022.

“It's coming to an end, this era. It's tough for us. We grew up watching all of them. We saw them winning all the events,” said Francisco Cerúndolo, a 26-year-old from Argentina who's been ranked in the top 20. “Then suddenly we started playing against them, sharing the locker room or practicing with them, having conversations with them.”

Djokovic has won 10 of his 24 Slam trophies at Melbourne Park since making his Grand Slam debut there in 2005, and was scheduled to begin his bid for Nos. 11 and 25 on Monday against 19-year-old Californian Nishesh Basavareddy, who recently announced he was leaving Stanford University to turn pro.

“It's a nice number of years that I've been coming to Australia,” Djokovic said, “the place where I had the greatest Grand Slam success.” One big change for him as he seeks to become the first player in tennis history with 25 major singles titles: He is being coached, at least for this event, by his former on-court rival, Andy Murray, who retired as a player last August.

“We thought we'd give it a go and see if I can help,” said Murray, who collected three major titles and two Olympic singles gold medals. “Novak is not just one of the best tennis players of all-time. He's one of the best athletes of all-time." One other difference this time in Melbourne is that Djokovic was accompanied by his wife and two children.

Basavareddy, roughly half the age of the 37-year-old Djokovic, grew up cheering for the Serb, as did plenty of other current players.