“I just got there,” Carlos Alcaraz disagrees with being called Novak Djokovic’s biggest rival, nominates Rafael Nadal
Carlos Alcaraz picks Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to have the greatest rivalry on court.
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Carlos, Novak, and Rafa
Former world No.1, Carlos Alcaraz disagreed with people calling him the biggest rival of Novak Djokovic and gave explained reasons for the same. He instead picked up Rafael Nadal instead of him as the biggest rival of the Serbian. The 19-year-old is currently closing towards Djokovic in the ATP rankings.
Alcaraz claimed the top spot last year after winning the U.S. Open and became the youngest to achieve the feat. However, injury hampered his place as he missed out on playing the Australian Open 2023. On the other hand, Djokovic was in prime form and started the season on a high. He won the 2023 Adelaide International and Australian Open back to back.
Carlos had recovered from his injury and had an excellent debut to the season. He won the Argentina Open on his return and is currently playing in the Rio Open. On the other hand, Novak is still recovering from his hamstring injury and hence his top spot is under threat. In the post-match press conference in Rio, Carlos disagreed with these notions and said, “You have to understand that in the end, Nadal and Djokovic faced each other almost 60 times, including many semi-finals and finals of Grand Slam tournaments, semi-finals, and finals of Masters 1000.”
He further added by saying, “In my case, I don’t I only faced Novak once, I just got there so to speak, although now I’m fighting with him to be number one. This does not mean that I am his biggest rival, they have shared the circuit for two decades, they have played legendary matches, so it is normal to say that.”
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Carlos Alcaraz cruises into the Quarterfinals of 2023 Rio Open
On Thursday at the Brazilian ATP 500, Carlos Alcaraz’s attempt to defend his title at the Rio Open gained momentum, but not without facing a strong challenge from Fabio Fognini in the first set, who showed his classic form. Alcaraz triumphed in a thrilling 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-4 match, extending his unbeaten streak to 6-0 this season. He is aiming to secure his second consecutive trophy on the South American clay, after winning the Cordoba title last week.
In the opening set, Alcaraz had a strong start, leading 3-0 and having two break points for 4-0. However, Fognini came back with his creative shot-making and broke Alcaraz’s serve multiple times. However, Fognini’s brilliance peaked in the tie-break, where he won three consecutive points, to win the set 7-6(5).
Fognini had won all five of his break points and was looking for his first victory in 14 consecutive matches against Top 10 players. In the next round, Alcaraz will face Dusan Lajovic, who defeated Laslo Djere 6-2, 6-4 to reach his second quarter-final this season.
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Santhosh Tenneti
(308 Articles Published)