“That’s When Carlos Alcaraz Can Hurt Novak Djokovic”: Former Tennis Great Suggests Spaniard Has Edge

Former Spanish tennis player David Ferrer recently gave an interview in which he opened up about the rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. Ferrer feels that Alcaraz has a slight edge over Djokovic since the 20-year-old has much more speed in rallies and his fearlessness to come forward onto the net. This is an interesting take, which could be influenced by the fact that Alcaraz is raising the Spanish flag high again in tennis after Rafael Nadal.

David Ferrer also analyzed the two big finals recently played by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, i.e. Wimbledon 2023 and the Cincinnati Masters 2023. Ferrer is of the opinion that the perception in general across the global tennis community is to see another final between the two best players in the world.

Is Carlos Alcaraz better than Novak Djokovic?

In an interview with Tennis Majors, David Ferrer claimed that Novak Djokovic can only be matched by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the moment. Ferrer drew from his own experience from playing the 23-time Grand Slam champion in a few matches, one of them being the US Open 2012 semi-final.

The Spaniard said that Novak Djokovic always looks for improvement in every aspect of his game and life, being very particular about taking care of his body. These two qualities have made him one of the best players in the history of the game.

But David Ferrer believes that it all comes down to doing the small things right more when it comes to Carlos Alcaraz taking on Novak Djokovic as both are pretty ‘even’. He suggested Carlos Alcaraz to take more initiative in points to put Djokovic under pressure, otherwise he might be left behind.

On the other hand, Djokovic needs to be more consistent in his rallies and time his shots properly. Ferrer seems to be having his bets on Alcaraz to beat the legend if they clash in the US Open 2023 final.

Ferrer was quoted as saying in the interaction –

“They’re very even and it comes down to small details. Carlos changes the equation in his favor when he takes over the initiative in points. If he’s not able to do that and to put Novak under pressure…

“Djokovic is a bit more consistent in rallies and when it comes to timing of the shots, but when Carlos is able to hit with great speed and come forward, that’s when he can hurt Djokovic.”

The Spanish great believes that at the rate Novak Djokovic is going, he could easily play for another 2-3 years. Ferrer is delighted to see Djokovic get a new rival in Alcaraz as he reacted with the word ‘of course’ when asked about watching their recent clashes. He duly analyzed those with some fascinating points.

Ferrer lauds Alcaraz-Djokovic rivalry

David Ferrer believes that Novak Djokovic did not capitalize on his chances to win and physically struggled during the Wimbledon 2023 final. However, in Cincinnati, Djokovic was stronger mentally and Alcaraz was the one who could not make the most of his opponent’s problems with the heat. Ferrer also predicted indirectly that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz could play either in the US Open final as fans love to see such a rivalry.

Ferrer talked about the Cincinnati final in the interview by saying –

“I watched it, of course. In their matches, margins are always so small and I think that’s why every true tennis fan wants to see them play each other. In Cinncinati Djokovic refused to break mentally.

“At Wimbledon, it was the opposite – Novak had the chances and wasn’t able to win in the end. This time around, Carlos had his chance when Novak struggled physically, but then Novak managed to rise above those problems, just like great champions do.”

David Ferrer had a few words for Jannik Sinner as well, predicting that he is ready to win his first Grand Slam title anytime soon. But according to the experienced Spaniard, Sinner only needs to improve on the finer, small details of his game such as coming more towards the net on serve to become more threatening. Ferrer is the second player after Germany’s Boris Becker recently who has claimed that Sinner is extremely capable of challenging Djokovic and Alcaraz’s duopoly at the moment.