Carlos Alcaraz calls himself ‘lucky’ to have Novak Djokovic play on the Tour, hopes the Serb is allowed at all events in 2023
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Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is about to start his campaign in Abu Dhabi at the 2022 Mubadala World Tennis Championships, his first exhibition tournament this off-season. At a little over one hundred kilometers from there, Novak Djokovic will also be shortly starting his off-season campaign at the 2022 World Tennis League in Dubai.
The Mubadala World Tennis Championships are scheduled from the 16th to the 18th of December while the World Tennis League commences on the 19th of December with its last match on the 24th of December. These two events precede the 2023 season which starts on 29th December 2022 in Australia in the form of the 2023 United Cup.
Following Djokovic’s ban from playing in Australia and USA this year, he suffered a big ranking drop falling to World No. 8. Meanwhile, Alcaraz made the most of the situation and rose to World No. 1 on the back of his 2022 US Open title and 4 Tour titles as well. Ahead of his match in Mubadala, he was asked about Djokovic getting allowed to play in Australia and the Spaniard had only feelings of joy about the news.
“Well, tennis is better having the best players in the world and for the fans as well, it’s good to see a tournament with the best players. Talking for me, I want to see Novak play in every tournament. I always say that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best player in the world. I am a lucky guy to have Djokovic on the Tour,” said Alcaraz speaking with the press in the clip shared by journalist Reem Abulleil.
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Carlos Alcaraz is to play directly in the semi-finals in Mubadala
With Alcaraz being the top seed, the Spaniard has received a bye from the quarter-final round of the tournament. He is scheduled to take the court on 17th December in the second semi-final. His opponent will be the winner of the match between Andrey Rublev and Borna Coric who will lock horns on Day 1 of the event.
In the other quarter-final, Stefanos Tsitsipas got the better of Cameron Norrie to book his place in the semi-finals. Tsitsiaps will now take on Casper Ruud in the first semi-final for a place in the finals in what is a young field at the tournament this year.
With Alcaraz opting to sit out of the United Cup later this month, the exhibition matches become a great chance for him to get a better idea of his peers going into the 2023 season. The World No. 1 will also return to action for the first time since his injury in the Paris Masters finals and will be looking to get some matches under his belt for the next season.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)