After dominating men’s tennis alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for years, Novak Djokovic has also formed thrilling rivalries with the sport’s new generation of stars, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has revealed the unique challenge of seeing shades of himself in both players.
What Novak Djokovic Said About His Rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
Djokovic recently stole the spotlight at Fanatics Fest in New York after his semifinal defeat to Sinner at the Wimbledon Championships. At the event, the Serb appeared on “The Shop” alongside LeBron James and explained how it felt to compete against younger players.
Djokovic made it clear that his aim was always to beat his younger rivals convincingly. He also highlighted that he, Federer, and Nadal had each possessed distinct playing styles during their legendary rivalry.
“I want to kick their [expletive] every day of the week. But to be honest, when I see them play, there’s contrasting styles with Federer and Nadal, really contrasting styles. I showed up as well, different. Three of us, we were all different,” he said.
In contrast, the 39-year-old spoke about the different challenge of locking horns with Alcaraz and Sinner, saying it felt like he was facing his younger self. He asserted that he knew the tactics to overcome the duo but disclosed that the experience hurt him because it made him question whether he could execute those plans at this stage of his career.
“And now with Alcaraz and Sinner being the the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much,” Djokovic said. “I’m like I’m playing myself from like 10 years ago and 15 years ago and it kind of, it hurts me to to feel that on the court like geez. I mean, I know how to crack the code, but can I?”
Nevertheless, Djokovic emphasized the importance of such rivalries, saying, “So, it’s always finding new ways to motivate yourself, to inspire yourself to be better and the rivalries are good. They’re important. So you got to always find someone in the crowd or someone on the court that is going to push you to be better.”
While Carlos Alcaraz will miss the Canadian Open due to the wrist injury that has kept him sidelined since April, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner will both return to action at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal. During their break, Alcaraz and Djokovic both attended the FIFA World Cup Final, with the 23-year-old sharing in the celebrations after Spain triumphed over Argentina to lift the coveted trophy.
