Novak Djokovic has made it clear that he is no longer motivated by climbing the ATP Rankings, but he will appreciate the significance of the next few weeks as he returns to action on American hard courts.

The former world No 1 is playing a reduced tournament schedule in the final chapters of his career, as he looks to find a balance between avoiding injuries and getting in enough match practice.

That plan didn’t work out for Djokovic in the first Grand Slam of 2025, as he was forced to pull out of his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring problem.

Yet he is back to full fitness ahead of the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, with the opportunity to leap up the rankings there for Djokovic to grab.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is defending just 50 points after he was beaten by Luca Nardi in his second match at Indian Wells last year, so he will add 950 points to his tally if he wins the title in California for a sixth time.

He opted against playing at the Miami Open last year and while there is a strong chance he will follow that approach once again, he could change his schedule and chase the 1000 points that will be on offer in that tournament.

Djokovic is currently at No 7 in the ATP Rankings and if he were to win the Indian Wells title, he could leap back into the top four.

More points in Miami could cement his position in the top four heading into the European clay court season, where he could also pick up valuable ranking points ahead of the French Open.

While chasing ranking points is no longer a focus for Djokovic, he would benefit from a return to the top four of the ATP Rankings ahead of the French Open.

That would ensure he avoids a meeting with defending Roland Garros Carlos Alcaraz, world No 2 Alexander Zverev and world No 1 Jannik Sinner before the semi-finals in Paris.

The impact of Djokovic falling out of the top four in the ATP Rankings was in evidence at the Australian Open, as he played a gruelling match against Alcaraz in the quarter-finals that led to his withdrawal against Zverev a few days later.

“Older players fall into this trap every time that they are trying to save their body and they don’t always get a good balance on playing enough matches,” said former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, in an exclusive interview with Tennis365.

“You tend to see older players start to lose five-set matches or have more bad days and that’s natural.

“That’s match toughness. I know Novak has played a lot of matches over the course of his career, but he still needs to be match-tough going into a best-of-five-set Grand Slam tournament.

“We often say you can’t afford to get into tough five-set matches in the first week of a Slam as you need to stay fresh and that’s especially true when you get older.

“If you don’t have enough matches under your belt and you play a long one early on, I tell you what, you are going to be so sore.

“That’s the big secret for Novak in the next few months. If he can get his schedule right and make sure he has the right number of matches under his belt, he can win again.”

Djokovic has just 600 ranking points to defend from 2024 ahead of the French Open and if he can up to 1,500 ranking points to his total, he will have a good chance of being among the top four seeds heading into Roland Garros.

The Serbian has made it clear that a 25th Grand Slam title is the primary target in his sights in 2025 and his best chance to achieve that goal will be boosted if he can jump up the ATP Rankings in March.