Novak Djokovic hails ‘talk of the sport’ Carlos Alcaraz, says teen is ‘one of the favourites’ for French Open

“Special”, “really impressive” and “best player in the world” are ways that Novak Djokovic has described Carlos Alcaraz with the current world No 1 saying the teenager is among the favourites to win the French Open.
Alcaraz is currently the talk of the town after he won a second ATP Masters title in the space of a few weeks as he followed up the Miami Open crown with the Madrid Open trophy on Sunday. Sandwiched in between was the Barcelona Open title while he also won the Rio Open in February.
The Spaniard has climbed to a career-high of No 6 in the ATP Rankings while Madrid runner-up Alexander Zverev described him as the “best player in the world” after their match on Sunday.
The smile of a champion 😁
Make that 4️⃣ titles in 2022 for Carlos Alcaraz 🏆@alcarazcarlos03 | @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/oDIqSLUvjW
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 8, 2022
Djokovic, who was beaten in three sets by Alcaraz in the semi-final in the Spanish capital, echoed Zverev’s comments.
“He definitely is special,” the 20-time Grand Slam winner said. “Already he’s breaking a lot of records as a teenager, winning two Masters events this year, a couple of 500s. So far he’s the best player in the world, no question, this year with the results that he’s been doing.”
He added: “He deserved to win the trophy. Everything about his game is really impressive. He’s a really complete player, can play equally well offensively and defensively. He’s the talk of the sport.”
Alcaraz won’t play at this week’s Italian Open as he opted to take a breather ahead of the French Open and, having won two tournaments on clay in the lead-up to the red dirt Grand Slam, Djokovic feels he will be one of the players to beat.
“The way he was dealing with the pressure. I mean, in our match few days ago, how calm he was all the way… was impressive. He deserved to win the trophy,” Djokovic said.
“(At) Roland Garros, he’s definitely one of the main favourites, no doubt, even though he has never reached the second week of a Grand Slam. With everything recently that he has achieved, he deserves to be one of the favourites.”
Latest
-
French Open
Irina-Camelia Begu cops biggest fine so far at 2022 French Open after ‘unacceptable’ incident
Irina-Camelia Begu lucky not to be disqualified, but not so lucky with the fine.
-
French Open
Rafael Nadal produces his ‘best match’ at 2022 French Open, up next Felix Auger-Aliassime and Uncle Toni
Rafael Nadal edges closer to potential Novak Djokovic showdown.
-
French Open
Novak Djokovic striving for perfection and more aggression after easing into Roland Garros fourth round
Novak Djokovic marches on at Roland Garros.
-
French Open
Belinda Bencic fumes at umpire over time violation during defeat to Leylah Fernandez at Roland Garros
It’s Leylah Fernandez v Amanda Anisimova up next at Roland Garros.
-
French Open
Exclusive – Why Carlos Alcaraz could be a hybrid of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Annabel Croft says Carlos Alcaraz has taken the best elements of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer to build his game.
-
French Open
Novak Djokovic ‘is back’ says John McEnroe as he makes world No 1 ‘very slight’ favourite for Roland Garros title
John McEnroe tipping Novak Djokovic to win the 2022 French Open.
-
Wimbledon
Daniil Medvedev insists ‘if I can play Wimbledon I will be happy to be there, even without points’
Daniil Medvedev would jump at the chance to play at Wimbledon.
-
Tennis News
Nick Kyrgios has ‘bigger fish to fry’ after Bernard Tomic challenges him ‘sort this out in the boxing ring’
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic won’t be stepping into a boxing ring any time soon.
-
French Open
Irina-Camelia Begu escapes disqualification after ’embarrassing moment’ left young fan in tears
“I just want to apologise,” says Irina-Camelia Begu.
-
Wimbledon
Wimbledon to finally ditch the ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ prefixes on its famous honours boards as it modernises
Welcome to 2022 Wimbledon.