Can Djokovic finally slay his inner demons to overcome a familiar foe?
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will begin his campaign at the 2025 Hellenic Championship in Athens against arch nemesis Alejandro Tabilo in the Round of 16. The Chilean has proven to be the chink in his armor, and Djokovic is yet to earn a victory over him. The winner of this encounter will take on either Nuno Borges or Laslo Djere/Eliot Spizzirri in the quarterfinal stage. Follow BetMGM to know all about the betting odds throughout the 2025 ATP season.
HISTORY. AGAIN. 💯@DjokerNole wins his 100th ATP title in Geneva!!#GonetGenevaOpen pic.twitter.com/so4NW0aKLc
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 24, 2025
24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals at all four majors this year. Although the season presented several challenges, the Serbian icon won the 100th trophy of his illustrious career in May. The 38-year-old also reached the Miami Open final, before returning to the final four in Shanghai last month. At the recently concluded Six Kings Slam, Djokovic lost to Jannik Sinner. He comes to Athens on the back of a win-loss record of 35-11 this year, including a first serve percentage and break point save rate of 66% on hard courts.
Happy 13th anniversary of Novak Djokovic walking on court in Paris with a Darth Vader mask for Halloween 💀 pic.twitter.com/otT3Bpdkiw
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) October 31, 2025
Alejandro Tabilo came through an absolutely thrilling 7-6(7) 6-7(6) 7-5 win against Adam Walton in Round-1 here in Greece. The 28-year-old southpaw is the top ranked player from Chile, and captured the third singles crown of his career at Chengdu in September. Tabilo won his first tour-level match of the year only in March, and accumulated merely five wins until the end of the European clay court swing. After regaining his confidence on the Challenger Tour, the World No. 89 put together some strong outings to improve his 2025 success rate to 45% so far.
EPIC.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 23, 2025
Qualifier Alejandro Tabilo saves two match points and comes back from 1-4 in the 3rd set tiebreak to beat top seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) and win the Chengdu title.
3rd career title. Amazing stuff. pic.twitter.com/z7d6iAV936
Alejandro Tabilo has a 2-0 record in the head-to-head against Novak Djokovic.
Tabilo stunned his Serbian counterpart in the 2024 Rome Masters for the very first time. The duo met again on clay this year, at the Monte Carlo Masters. Despite Djokovic’s best efforts, he fell short yet again. The pre-quarterfinal in Athens is set to be their first duel on a hard court.
| Event | Round | Winner | Score |
| 2025 Monte Carlo | Round of 32 | Alejandro Tabilo | 6-3 6-4 |
| 2024 Rome | Round of 32 | Alejandro Tabilo | 6-2 6-3 |
| Novak Djokovic | Category | Alejandro Tabilo |
| 5 | Current Ranking | 89 |
| 1159-233 | Career W-L Record | 70-71 |
| 35-11 | YTD W-L Record | 13-16 |
| 100 | Career Titles | 3 |
| 1 | YTD Titles | 1 |
| 24 | Grand Slams | 0 |
Djokovic has the best statistics on hard courts. The veteran has won almost 60% of his majors on this surface, and starts as the top seed. Although he has a negative record against Tabilo, Nole is in much better form at the moment than when he faced the Chilean on the last two occasions. The surface is also not as physically demanding, and there is no doubt that the fans will be on Djokovic’s side.
Prediction: Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Djokovic (6/25) is dominating the pre-match betting market against the underdog Tabilo (3/1) in the ATP Hellenic Championship Athens 2025. According to the implied probability on the money line, the Serb has an 87% chance of advancing to the quarterfinals. Given below are the list of odds to know about before placing your bets (as per BetMGM):
(According to BetMGM: BetMGM offers exclusive promo codes, bonus deals and accurate odds for users upon signing up. Use BetMGM to ace your betting game in all sports!)
(Image Credits: Robert Deutsch, Imagn Images)
A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.
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