Former legendary player Jimmy Connors analyzed the Novak Djokovic - Carlos Alcaraz match at Roland Garros recently.
The American was an excellent former player that carved out a great career for himself. He was famously described by John McEnroe as a player that tried to most on a tennis court which made him incredibly hard to beat.
Another player that is incredibly hard to beat is Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz recently witnessed that. Despite being nominally the favourite, Alcaraz crumbled under the pressure, losing the match even though his tennis was fine. He started to cramp, which killed all of his momentum and didn't allow him to move properly.
It was a rather short match after that with Djokovic correctly diagnosing the cause of it. It was disappointing to see but also a learning experience that should allow him to grow as a player. It's not the first time he dealt with something like that either as it cost him the match before as well. Analyzing the match, former player Connors shared his thoughts on his podcast.
Alcaraz, everybody thought that he had come of age and he has come of age. He’s 19-20 years old and he’s won a Grand Slam already but there’s guys out there, such as Djokovic who is not willing to just roll over and say, 'Okay you can have it now.' He’s going to have to earn it.
One thing that was incredibly impressive was seeing Djokovic physically handling the moment far better than a much younger Alcaraz. Despite having well over a decade on Alcaraz age-wise, the Serbian handled the tough conditions much better which Connors thinks is unacceptable.
Djokovic is in great shape and he proved that. Alcaraz was cramping after the second set. To me, that is kind of unacceptable. I don’t know if that’s on his team or nerves got into it or what but cramping in the third set. I know Djokovic puts a lot of pressure on you and all that, but you got to be ready to play five sets. Especially in the French [Open] against a guy like Djokovic.
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