Carlos Alcaraz explains why Novak Djokovic is ‘one of the best’ and gushes over Serbian’s ‘crazy’ feats
Carlos Alcaraz has found a couple of words to describe Novak Djokovic’s latest comeback act, saying that he always knew the tennis great was going to fight back against Laslo Djere despite being up against it early on.
Reigning champion Alcaraz continued his US Open title defence on Saturday as he booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Dan Evans.
A day earlier his main rival Djokovic had to go the distance against fellow Serbian Djere as the 32nd seed was two sets to love up. However, the 23-time Grand Slam winner found a couple of extra gears and came away with a 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory in three hours and 45 minutes.
World No 1 Alcaraz was asked after his win for his thoughts on Djokovic’s match and he admitted that being able to come back time and time again shows why the Serbian is one of the all-time greats.
“I watched the first two sets, then I had to go to go to sleep,” he started off. “When I went to bed I was thinking that Novak is going to come back, that’s for sure.
“He shows once again that he’s one of the best in history. I think I saw [stats that he has done it] like six, seven times. It’s something crazy.
“Being 36 years old and doing the same things as when he was 20 is incredible. And we have to give credit for that and it’s something admirable.”
Alcaraz will face 22-year-old Matteo Arnaldi for a place in the quarter-final after the Italian upset 16th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Arnaldi only made his Grand Slam main draw debut at Roland Garros this year and now finds himself in the fourth round of the US Open.
In an interview with Spanish media, Alcaraz admits he has very limited knowledge of his opponent, but will spend time studying him over the next day.
“The truth is that I haven’t been able to see him much. Although it is true that I had the opportunity to see him when he played the Challenger in Murcia, because it was in my country,” he said.
“It’s been a while and I haven’t been able to see him much more. If he is in the fourth round beating players like Norrie, he deserves to be there.
“He is a very, very tough player. We’ll see how he plays on the rest day. I’ll try to watch some of his videos, some of his games that he has played and, from there, see how we are going to play against him. Obviously I know that it is going to be a very, very tough game, in which I have to demand a lot of myself.”
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