Novak Djokovic recently gave his thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz’s bid for greatness. The Serbian believes that although the young Spaniard has already shown a lot of promise at 21, he might want to slow down before making tall promises.
Alcaraz had a remarkable season on the ATP tour last year, winning four titles – two of which came at the French Open and Wimbledon. However, he fell two places from his world No. 1 position to No. 3 in the year-end rankings, leading to concerns about his consistency.
That said, Alcaraz wasn’t shy about expressing his positive aspirations last year when he said he wanted to be “part of tennis history.” He also spoke about the 24-time major winner’s career accolades as a point of reference.
“I know it’s almost impossible to beat Novak’s records, but I play tennis for myself, for joy and I want to do great things,” Carlos Alcaraz said last year (via BBC Sport ). “I want to be part of tennis history.”
In this context, Novak Djokovic expressed his views on the Spaniard’s ambitious attitude while speaking to GQ. The 37-year-old began by giving props to the world No. 3, predicting that he will likely complete the career Grand Slam at some point in his career.
However, he conceded in the same breath that Alcaraz might be out of turn thinking about his place in tennis history.
“Carlos did something that no one has done in history at such a young age. So the odds are with him. He’s going to finish his slam (career) very soon,” Novak Djokovic told GQ. “He even said it himself, he wants to make history. He wants to be ‘the best in history.’ I respect that kind of mentality of ‘Hey, I think I’ve got the goods.’ But can -maybe it’s a little early for him to think about the story.”
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic plan to meet in Australian Open 2025 quarterfinals
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are set to renew their rivalry at the 2025 Australian Open. The Spaniard and Serbian find themselves sharing the same quarter, meaning only one of them will reach the semi-finals of Melbourne.
Alcaraz will need to be at his best to overtake the 24-time major winner if they meet in the last eight. He trails Djokovic by a slim margin of 3-4 in their head-to-head meetings on the ATP tour, giving the 37-year-old considerable life to win their potential match.
Edited by Prathik Br
