Novak Djokovic 'hopes' to play Alcaraz 'as many times' as Nadal and Federer

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz - Wimbledon 2023

September 29, 2023

ATP Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis News

Novak Djokovic ‘hopes’ to play Carlos Alcaraz ‘as many times’ as Nadal and Federer

Novak Djokovic has claimed that the future of tennis is ‘looking good’ with Carlos Alcaraz ‘leading the field’, as he hopes to continue his rivalry with the Spaniard for a long time.

Djokovic has the most recent victory in his new rivalry with the 20-year-old, and spoke to Sky Sports about it when competing in the celebrity all-star Ryder Cup this week.

“I think tennis, definitely the future is looking good with Carlos leading that field,” said Djokovic. “We’ve had some thrilling encounters. This year with the final at Wimbledon and also Roland-Garros and Cincinnati – that was one of the best three-set matches I’ve ever played.”

Gareth Bale and Novak Djokovic teamed up to help their team win the Ryder Cup All-Star Match ?️‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/KajFnxhcjD

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 27, 2023

The Serb has spent a lot of his career battling with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, but retirement and injury has limited these rivalries in recent years.

And now Djokovic is embracing his new head-to-head with Alcaraz, “It’s great for our sport there are more rivalries happening but rivalries with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal particularly and also with Andy Murray are right up there for me.

“Hopefully I’ll play him [Alcaraz] as many times as I played the other guys and that will mean I’ll be playing for years to come. But I doubt that, let’s see how it goes.”

Djokovic has won three of the four majors this year, with his only loss coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, and the 24-time major winner is very pleased with his performance in 2023.

“I’ve had a fantastic year,” claimed Djokovic. “Grand Slams are the ones that count the most for me at this point of my career, they’re the ones where I want to play my best tennis. This year, three out of four Slams and another final, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Inside the baseline…

Although Djokovic and Alcaraz’s rivalry is building up nicely, it seems unlikely, if not impossible, that they will be able to build-up the same sort of rivalry as Djokovic has had with Nadal, Federer and even Murray at this stage of the Serb’s career. However, it would not be surprising to see the pair face off in every major final in 2024.