Carlos Alcaraz taking ‘incredible’ Novak Djokovic’s inspiration to extend his career to dominate opponents in future

Recently Djokovic became the oldest US Open men's singles champion in the Open Era.

Carlos Alcaraz taking ‘incredible’ Novak Djokovic’s inspiration to extend his career to dominate opponents in future

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic after the Wimbledon 2023 final (Image via : Wimbledon)

World No.1 Novak Djokovic and World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz have been the face of men’s tennis over the past 12 months or so. The pair have established a formidable rivalry and have played some memorable matches. The head-to-head between the pair is finely poised at 2-2 with their last 2 matches being part of the history books. The pair have exchanged the World No.1 spot several times over the last year.

The pair last played in the final of the Cincinnati Masters where Djokovic edged the Spaniard in a nail-biting 3-setter. The match was the longest Masters final played in the Open era, lasting 3 hours and 49 minutes. With the win, Djokovic avenged his loss against the 20-year-old at the Wimbledon. Alcaraz defeated the Serb in a historic Wimbledon finale, making himself a place among the elites of tennis.

In an interview with La Stampa, the young Spaniard spoke about his desire to match Djokovic’s longevity. The 2-time Grand Slam champion told Stefano Semeraro. (h/t : Ubitennis)

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I take care of all the details to get the most out of my career, and I would like to get to his age by fighting to win the big tournaments, with a better physical shape than many opponents who are 24 or 25 years old. Novak is truly incredible.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion recently played in the final of the Paris Masters where he comprehensively defeated Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. The World No.1 defeated the Bulgarian pro 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 38 minutes to lift a record-extending 7th title at Bercy and 97th ATP title overall. Indicative of his longevity at the elite level of tennis, this was his 40th Masters title meanwhile the rest of the top 50 combined have 41 Masters titles.

Carlos Alcaraz picks ATP Finals title over year-end World No.1 ranking

After an early exit at the Paris Masters at the hands of Russian pro Roman Safiullin, World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz has his eyes set on the ATP Finals to be played in Turin, Italy. The Spaniard was the second player to qualify for the year-end championship making his first appearance at the tournament after withdrawing from the last edition.

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Carlos Alcaraz addressing the press at the China Open. (Credit : ATP Tour)

After the end of the US Open, Alcaraz lost his World No.1 spot to Novak Djokovic. On being asked to choose between the World No.1 ranking and the ATP Final win, the Spaniard chose the latter. 

If I have to choose I'd say win the ATP Finals, but the two things go hand in hand: if I get a good result in Turin I have a good chance of returning number one. The Finals are a great tournament that I unfortunately missed in 2022. I really want to be there, to give myself a chance. 

Alcaraz further expressed his desire to play doubles at the next year’s Paris summer Olympics alongside the 22-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold Medalist Rafael Nadal.

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