Novak Djokovic hasn't played at his level in 2024, but Carlos Alcaraz doesn't think that makes him as vulnerable as some might suggest.
Very few tennis players are able to keep playing at an extremely high level for many years. Djokovic is one of those, but even he has periods when his tennis doesn't look what many have come to expect from him.
This year has certainly been like that, as he has failed to really reach his peak so far. We're almost five months into the new season, and some are starting to get concerned.
One of his main current rivals on the ATP Tour, Alcaraz, has no such concerns because he doesn't really see Djokovic as vulnerable as some people make him out to be. In a talk with La Vanguardia, Alcaraz admitted that Djokovic does have weaknesses, as does any player.
"Everyone has weak points, Djokovic too although it seems not. The difficult thing is to find them, because they are very small."
Even so, Alcaraz disagreed that the Serbian was vulnerable. He just failed to win a few events, and people are already panicking. That actually shows how good he's been in the past because everybody got used to him winning everything, so now that he's not, it's worrying to some.
"He never is. Now he does not have exceptional results, although they are very good, with Grand Slam or Monte Carlo semifinals. The thing is that we are used to seeing him win everything."
The Spaniard also made an interesting comparison. If we compare Djokovic's season to any other Top 10 player, most people would say that it's been a pretty decent year. It's not great, but certainly not terrible.
But for a player like Djokovic, great is not enough. He is and always was expected to do legendary things, and his season so far certainly hasn't been on that level, which is only when compared to the incredible expectations that he set by being arguably the greatest tennis player of all time.
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