Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz might be rivals on the tennis courts, but they are very friendly outside of it.
Rivalries shape any sport, and it's not different for tennis. The Big Three era is yet to end, even though not all members of the famed Big Three compete anymore, as Roger Federer retired from the sport in 2022.
Rafael Nadal has struggled with his health in recent years. And then there is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian player won three major titles last year, and even though this year was certainly a disappointment for him, he completed his only goal of the season, as he won the Paris Olympics to win the Olympic gold medal.
He doesn't have his main two rivals around anymore, even though he bested Nadal on his way to that Olympic gold. However, in that match, it was very clear that the Spanish player was far from his level, especially since the match was played at the Roland Garros courts, where he won 14 Grand Slams in his career.
In the absence of his rivals, with whom he shared the court a total of 110 times (50 times against Federer and 60 times against Nadal), Djokovic has created new rivals on the ATP Tour.
Funnily enough, these rivals are almost two decades younger than him and their names are Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who, of course, have also their own rivalry.
But to create that, they first had to rival Djokovic, who was still the most dominant force on the Tour in 2023. While the Serbian can't say that he would be best friends with Nadal and Federer, his relationship with these two players is much different.
That is true, especially when it comes to Alcaraz. The 24-time major winner couldn't find enough good words about his much younger rival, as the two often exchange many nice words.
They also had plenty of chances to do that, as they shared many finals, meaning they got to address each other during their speeches following those matches.
Djokovic also stated that his relationship with Alcaraz is a 'beautiful message for tennis', as they were able to set their on-court rivalry aside by being extremely friendly away from the courts.
The latest such episode happened at the 2024 Shanghai Masters, where they both compete. Alcaraz beat Juncheng Shang before besting also another home player, Yibing Wu. Djokovic, on the other hand, played only one match so far, beating Alex Michelsen.
After one of Alcaraz's matches, the two met in the players' area and shared a very nice moment. Djokovic was coming from a meeting with Chinese F1 driver Zhou Guanyu, who he met and received some presents from, while the Spanish player was returning from one of his matches.
When seeing Alcaraz, Djokovic immediately caught the 21-year-old's attention by calling him 'Titanico', which could translate to a titan, giving him a nickname for his on-court qualities.
They then had a little conversation, which Djokovic ended by saying: "You're too much on the court, I'm outside of the court."
Should they both succeed in Shanghai, they could meet in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
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