Novak Djokovic has a new rival on the ATP Tour in Carlos Alcaraz, and he hopes to play him many times.
Rivalries are something that shape many athletes and make them better. Big Three in tennis, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal admitted that multiple times, and that's also one of the reasons why they won a total of 66 Grand Slam titles combined.
With Roger Federer's retirement and Rafael Nadal's injury woes, the 36-year-old Serb was the last man standing for some time, with seemingly no one being able to challenge him from the upcoming generation of players on the ATP Tour.
But that was only until a certain Carlos Alcaraz appeared. The young Spaniard showed his qualities in 2022, winning the US Open and becoming the youngest ever man to occupy the world no. 1 spot as the result.
One year later, the 20-year-old defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, denying him another trophy in his collection. Recently, the Serbian attended the Ryder Cup for the celebrity All-Star Match, and during his stay in Rome, he talked to SkySports Italy about rivalries.
"I think it’s great for our sport there are more rivalries happening but obviously rivalries with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal particularly and also with Andy Murray are right up there for me."
After mentioning his biggest rivals in Federer and Nadal, but also Andy Murray, who was seemingly the only player able to challenge the Big Three, and even form what is known as a Big Four, Djokovic also talked about Alcaraz and rivalry with him, saying that he would like to play him as many times as the two legendary players, even though that may not be possible.
"Carlos, I have just played him 3-4 times. Hopefully I’ll play him as many times as I played the other guys and that will mean I’ll be playing for years to come. I doubt that, let’s see how it goes."
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