“It’s turning into a rivalry” says Novak Djokovic about facing Carlos Alcaraz in the Cincinnati final

It seems like Djokovic has no problem taking on the rival who defeated him in the Wimbledon final five weeks ago.

Alcaraz Meets Djokovic

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Hubert Hurkacz by a score of 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Saturday to advance to the Cincinnati Open final, where he will face Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz and Djokovic faced off in a thrilling Wimbledon final, and the Spaniard defeated the Serbian to win his first Wimbledon title. It appears that Djokovic doesn’t mind facing the opponent who defeated him in the Wimbledon final five weeks ago.

Djokovic was asked during an interview about the encounter against Alcaraz and he said: “This is what everybody wanted and expected at the start of the tournament. Now here we are.”

Djokovic further talked about his face-off against Alcaraz and said: “It seems like it’s turning into a rivalry. I’m loving it.”

He said that in each of his previous three tournaments, he had faced Alcaraz. They shared two thrilling sets in the semifinal match at Roland Garros until Alcaraz had a cramp. They more than lived up to their promise in the showdown in the Wimbledon final, which was a five-set epic won by Alcaraz.

Alcaraz in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2023

Carlos Alcaraz

53 - 12win/loss

Hard
22-5
I Hard
6-2
Clay
17-4
Grass
8-1
21 year old
WLLWLWWWWW
2024 Highlights

Currently ranked no.1, the Spaniard has achieved a compiled 53-5 record in 2023. Carlos is now playing in Cincinnati where he beat the world no.55 Jordan Thompson 7-5 4-6 6-3, the world no.13 Tommy Paul 7-66 6-70 6-3, the world no.70 Max Purcell 4-6 6-3 6-4 and the world no.20 Hubert Hurkacz 2-6 7-64 6-3.

Carlos Alcaraz will fight against the world no.2 Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday at 4:30 pm on CENTER COURT. Their actual head to head record is 2-1 for Alcaraz.

Alcaraz has won 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos got to the final in Rio de Janeiro (Rio Open).

The Spaniard won 12 titles in his career: 3 on hard courts, 7 on clay courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

Alcaraz will play next at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 28th of August.

Alcaraz
Cincinnati
Alcaraz's Record
Alcaraz
Projected
Draw

Djokovic in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2023

Novak Djokovic

37 - 9win/loss

Hard
15-5
I Hard
1-0
Clay
16-3
Grass
5-1
37 year old
LWWWWWWLWW
2024 Highlights

At the moment ranked no.2, Djokovic has achieved an overall 37-5 match record in 2023. Djokovic is playing in Cincinnati where he ousted the world no.23 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 ret., the world no.211 Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2, the world no.9 Taylor Fritz 6-0 6-4 and the world no.17 Alexander Zverev 7-65 7-5.

Novak Djokovic will compete against the world no.1 Carlos Alcaraz in the final on Sunday at 4:30 pm on CENTER COURT. Their actual record is 2-1 for Alcaraz.

Novak has won 3 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open and French Open. The Serbian reached the final in Wimbledon.

The Serbian won 94 titles in his career: 50 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 17 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

Djokovic is scheduled to play next at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 28th of August.

Djokovic
Cincinnati
Djokovic's Record
Djokovic
Projected
Draw

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic faced off 3 times. Their record is 2-1 for Alcaraz. Before, the last time they played each other, Carlos Alcaraz won 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the final in London (Wimbledon) on the 16th of July 2023.

You can watch the highlights in the following video.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic

Embed from Getty Images