WIMBLEDON – Novak Djokovic a big compliment Carlos Alcaráz.
Before they face each other Wimbledon In Sunday’s final, Djokovic was asked to rate Alcaraz – and he compared the youngster to himself.
Pretty good company.
“He was incredibly successful in adapting to the surface and the demands and challenges of opponents on any given day,” Djokovic said. “I see that as a great quality, a great virtue. I consider it one of my greatest strengths throughout my career that I’ve basically been able to constantly evolve, adapt and adapt my game depending on the challenges. That’s what he does very early in his career.”
And Alcaraz’ assessment of Djokovic?
“He has no weakness. He’s a really complete guy, a really complete player. He is great. He doesn’t do anything wrong on the pitch,” said Alcaraz. “Physically, he’s a beast. Mentally he is a beast. Everything is incredible for him.”
The clash on Center Court at the All England Club to round off the two weeks is exactly what both men were expecting. As does pretty much everyone else.
What more could tennis fans ask for?
“He’s very motivated. he is young He’s hungry,” noted Djokovic. “I’m hungry too, so let’s have a feast.”
It’s a showdown between one of the greatest players of all time – Many consider him the greatest – in Djokovic, who is 36, against a rising new star at Alcaraz, who is 20. It’s the biggest age difference between two men’s Grand Slam finalists since 1974, and Djokovic would become the oldest male champion at Wimbledon in the Open era.
Alcaraz is No. 1, Djokovic is No. 2 (but has spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone, male or female).
They have shown that they are superior to the others Straight-set wins in Thursday’s semifinals: Alcaraz never gave No. 3 Daniil Medvedev a chance, beating him 6-3 6-3 6-3; Djokovic had to deal with some difficult situations, but eliminated Jannik Sinner No. 8 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 6 (4).
Medvedev even went so far as to place Alcaraz in the category of the so-called Big Three of men’s tennis: Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
“He’s a bit like her,” Medvedev said.
Djokovic has won 23 Grand Slam titles, more than any other man in tennis’s more than hundred-year history, and is aiming for his eighth men’s record at Wimbledon, including fifth in a row.
Alcaraz is a generational talent, the first teenager to complete a year at the top of the ATP rankings. He won the US Open last year and is now applying for a second major championship.
In addition, this is a rematch of the semifinals of the French Open Last month. The first two sets of this competition were deliciously entertaining and full of highlight shots from both.
It was tense. It was tight. It was great.
And then everything went haywire when Alcaraz succumbed to full-body cramps, which he attributed at least in part to his nervousness from competing against Djokovic on that stage and with those stakes. Djokovic won there and won the last two sets 6-1.
“We had a very good game until he started fighting physically in Paris,” said Djokovic. “We really raised the level of tennis to a very high level. I think it was great for the audience and great for us players to be a part of it.”
Unsurprisingly, Alcaraz wants another shot at Djokovic.
I’ve been talking about this for the past two weeks.
“Gives extra motivation. It’s something special to play a final against a legend of our sport,” said Alcaraz. “Well if I win it could be great for me – not only to win a Wimbledon title but to do it against Novak would be very special.”
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
___
AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis And https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed, or redistributed without permission.
