Novak Djokovic had high praise for Carlos Alcaraz after the 20-year-old took down the Wimbledon champion in a thrilling Wimbledon final this past Sunday.
Following his 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 loss, Djokovic said that he had never “played a player like him ever, to be honest” and compared Alcaraz–favorably, in fact–to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal…and also to himself.
“I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself,” the Serb commented. “I would agree with that. I think he’s got basically best of all three worlds. He’s got this mental resilience and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old. It’s quite impressive. He’s got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we’ve seen with Rafa over the years.
“And I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands that he’s got some similarities with my backhands. Yeah, two-handed backhands, defense, being able to adapt. I think that has been my personal strength for many years. He has it, too.
“Roger and Rafa have their own obviously strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is very complete player.”
Alcaraz, of course, appreciated the compliment in the aftermath of his second Grand Slam title.
“It’s crazy that Novak say that, honestly,” the Spaniard assured. “But I (do) consider myself a really complete player. I think I have the shots, the strength physically, the strength mentally enough to [manage] these situations.
“I don’t know; probably he’s right. But I don’t want to think about it. I’m going to think that I’m full Carlos Alcaraz.”
This full version of Carlos Alcaraz that has been on display dating back to last spring remains No. 1 in the world thanks to his triumph at the All-England Club. He has also won four Masters 1000 titles (Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid twice) to go along with his Wimbledon and U.S. Open (2022) victories.
thoughts?
He’s better than all 3 of them and he’s just 20. I don’t think any of the big 3 had it all – bh, fh, Cc, Dtl, great aggression ,great defense, volleys lobs ,drops , mental strength and to top it no tantrums on court n great crowd likeabikity n support..
Did any of the big 3 have this all ? Nopes. Alcaraz has it all as right mix and uses all in the right mix.
Rafa was great offense if he played it but he didn’t always and stuck a lot to defense , novak tantrums on court were another level plus his crowd support lacked sorely . Fed choked quiet a lot in important matches plus he was not great at defense n return was mostly chip n charge, rarely to hit a winner unless in the later years post 2017 where he turned on the aggression on bh.
ROS not that good; serve is good but not great. I don’t know about his slices.
I like his mental strength, he’s able to serve it out for the match, even a slam final.
I would say his game is great against Djoko’s style of play; I’m not sure whether it is great against a more aggressive, net rushing style like Fed’s; or something like a hard hitting Delpo at his best (Alex Zverev had shown that a consistently hard hitting game could cause Alcaraz lots of troubles, beating him at the FO last year).
I’m also sure that Rafa on clay would beat Alcaraz more often than not. The big three plus Murray could hit on the run FH/BH with precision, Alcaraz has yet to show that he could do that consistently.
Always good to hear your thoughts and see you here lucky! Thanks for that…
Couldn’t have said it better luckystar. Well done. Your analysis is always outstanding. Alcaraz is brilliant but to suggest he is better than the big 3 in that he has it all is ludricous. His return of serve is nowhere near Djoko and his serve pales in comparison to federer’s but definitely miles better than Rafa as Rafa has always had a horrible serve.
On clay, Rafa at his best will beat him. His defense is nowhere near rafa’s defence and movement in French open 2008. That rafa’s defence and movement were immaculate. Carlos defense on clay is like Djoko in 2011 but not near Rafa of 2008.
He’s brilliant but let’s not get carried away and deal with hyperboles about writing his own legacy. Let him win 20 slams first, then we can talk. But beating Djoko in a Wimbledon final is absolutely legendary and such a pleasure to watch. Well done to him.
He has those intangibles that ultimately matter more than serve or backhand (though his serve is actually more effective than he gets credit for; Rafa would no doubt have loved to have had that serve): a burning desire to win, an inability to give up, and a high natural tennis IQ that allows him to learn on the fly. When that all comes together with athleticism, it’s transcendent. Of course, he could get sick of it all in a few years and fly off to a private island like Borg. Or he could have a new rival who always gets the better of him. It’s all unwritten. He might share the marks of greatness with Federer, Djokovic and Nadal, but his story will be his own.
Nice post!
I’m calling him Magic Carlos!
Great Post, Ruby.
“his story will be his own”…well said by Ruby (above).
Joining the chorus of appreciation for Ruby’s post 👍
Hope our Elizabeth is well XX
Missing from TBC too 🙁
Seconding your good wishes, Alison.
I also am quite worried about Elizabeth. Have been for a while.
Hope she is ok…
RC is a very strong lady gals!..no matter what come her way,she will fight it!..insyaallah she will be ok!..she will come here when she’s ready!…Vamos RC!💪💪💪
Thank you, Mira Andi! I left a post on the non-tennis forum explaining my sudden disappearance. You know I hate to miss tennis, especially Wimbledon!
Now I have missed picking for Warsaw, dang it. Maybe I can watch some today, but I have other catching up to do and wonder if TC will even have a broadcast or stream from there. Atlanta isn’t my favorite tourny, but I like Hamburg and completely missed Bastaad.
While I was in Spokane, I connected with an old friend, and we nearly had an argument over Swiatek and her favorite Sabalenka. Ended up laughing about it though. I respect her right to an opinion. 😄
TC is showing the Muchova vs. Sasnovich match.