Carlos Alcaraz issues response to Novak Djokovic after Rafael Nadal comments
Carlos Alcaraz was compared to Rafael Nadal by Novak Djokovic after the pair were involved in another tense battle.
Carlos Alcaraz has admitted he is on a ‘good path’ after Novak Djokovic compared his Wimbledon nemesis to his iconic rival Rafael Nadal. Djokovic got revenge over the young Spaniard by beating him in the final of the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion overcame losing the first set to Alcaraz by eventually winning 5-7 7-6 7-6. And he compared the 20-year-old to his old foe Nadal after coming off court.
Speaking afterwards, Djokovic said: “The feeling that I have on the court reminds me a little bit of when I was facing Nadal when we were at our prime.”
Alcaraz has since reflected on the comments made by Djokovic, saying they prove he is on a ‘good path’. The two-time Grand Slam winner insisted it was ‘great’ to be compared to his countryman.
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“For me, obviously it’s great that he knows that every time he’s going to play against me, it reminds him of playing against Rafa or against the best ones because that means we are on a good path,” Alcaraz said.
“I’m working very well, but today was tough to deal with everything that Novak put me through. For me, it’s great to hear these things from Novak, [who] has played iconic matches, storied matches.
“He said some matches against me were [some] of the toughest that he has played, it’s great. That means that my team and myself, we are doing the great work, we are in a good path. [Because of] matches like this one, we know that we have to still work in the same way that we are doing.”
Alcaraz has reflected on another difficult test against Djokovic. The youngster, who will defend his US Open crown next month, opened up on how the 36-year-old makes his opponents fight for every point.
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“Today was really, really difficult playing against Novak. He always put almost five, six, seven balls in [the court] every point.
“Fighting and running from one corner to other one every point is really tough to deal with almost the whole match. I tried to stay there, to stay good physically, but it was tough. As I said, I left everything on court.”
Alcaraz and Djokovic will now prepare for the US Open. The tournament begins on August 28 and runs until September 10.