Despite the Serb’s sluggish start to the clay court season, Carlos Alcaraz recognized Novak Djokovic as his toughest rival for the upcoming ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome. Alcaraz made significant progress in his title defense at the Barcelona Open by beating fellow countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets on Friday, April 21. The score was 7-6(5), 6-4.
Alcaraz was asked to state his opinion of Novak Djokovic as the favorite to win the remaining clay court matches without Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz refrained from mentioning the Serb as his main competition for clay court prowess due to the success of other great players on the surface.
“I couldn’t tell you if he is the biggest rival, because in the end, there are players who play very well on clay and who are great players on clay.
Djokovic is Djokovic even though he lost in the round of 16 in Monte Carlo and the quarterfinals in Banja Luka: he can reach Madrid and win it, he can get to Rome and win, so we have him there as the main rival, but obviously there are great players who are up to Nole on clay,” he said.
The elbow injury
After losing to Lajovic in Banja Luka, Novak Djokovic stated that he is not even sure he will play in Madrid. Novak has been nursing an elbow injury, and there he has been struggling to maintain his stellar level.
Alcaraz in Barcelona, ranking, and results in 2023
WWWWWWWWWW Currently the world no.2, Alcaraz achieved an overall 21-2 record in 2023. The Spaniard is currently playing in Barcelona where he ousted the world no.79 Nuno Borges 6-3 6-1, the world no.25 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 7-5 and the world no.38 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-65 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz will face the world no.26 Daniel Evans in the semifinal on Saturday at 4:00 pm on PISTA RAFA NADAL. The head to head is 1-0 for Alcaraz.
Carlos clinched 2 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells. Carlos was the runner-up in Rio de Janeiro (Rio Open).
Carlos won 8 titles in his career: 3 on hard courts and 5 on clay courts. (See the list of his titles)
Novak Djokovic in 2023
WWWLWWWWWW Currently ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 21st of April when he was defeated by world no.70 Dusan Lajovic 6-4 7-6(6) in the quarter in Banja Luka (draw).
Currently, during this season the Serbian has a 17-3 record. Novak has won 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.
Djokovic is scheduled to compete next in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 24th of April.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic squared off just once. Their current record is 1-0 for Alcaraz. When they played, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) in the semifinal in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) in May 2022.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
