Former tennis player Alex Corretja has voiced his opinion on the rivalry between current World No. Novak Djokovic, and the second-placed teenage Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
While the two have only met once, with Alcaraz winning a breathtaking contest, they are in a direct race of the top of the ATP rankings and should face off on the court several times this year.
Alcaraz is the hugely exciting and explosive newcomer at 19 years of age, while Djokovic is the dominant and established force in men's tennis. The young Spaniard is seen as having one of the very few games that can regularly trouble the Serb. It all sets up a tantalising prospect for tennis fans this season and beyond.
I think it is nice, once you are there at the top of the rankings, to have someone pushing you. That makes you improve all the time and that makes you learn. I think for Novak, it may not have been the number one thing for him in the last year when he could not play in many tournaments and the big ones, like Wimbledon, he did not get any points.
But as soon as he has got back into the rhythm of the tour again, he is gaining points and he is seeing that he is growing. He is seeing that the young ones are pushing him as well. I think for him, it is something that is extra motivation because you need to know how to keep finding ways of improving your game.
This is great for tennis, and it is great for them because, at the end of the day, the reason why Rafa, Roger and Novak were so good was because they were in the same era and they needed to improve. Otherwise, it was not enough from what you did last year, you need to add a few things in order to keep winning tournaments and big titles which, in the end, is what really matters the most for these players.
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