Novak Djokovic concedes that playing against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner hurts because it feels like playing against himself from 10 or 15 years ago. The latter beat him in the semi-finals of Wimbledon en route to defending his title, while Alcaraz won their last meeting in this year’s Australian Open final.
Djokovic, 39, has lost to one of them at seven of the 11 Grand Slams since he became a 24-time major champion at the US Open in 2023. On both occasions since then that he has reached a final, Alcaraz has denied him a record-extending No.25, first at the French Open in 2024 and then again in Melbourne six months ago.
Speaking on The Shop at Fanatics Fest, Maverick Carter asked Djokovic about how he feels about competing with the younger generation. In response, the Serbian said: “I want to kick their a** every day of the week.
“But to be honest, when I see them play, there are contrasting styles with [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal, really contrasting styles. I showed up as well, different. Three of us, we were all different.
“And now with Alcaraz and Sinner being the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much. I’m like: ‘I’m playing myself from 10/15 years ago’, and it kind of hurts me to feel that on the court. I mean, I know how to crack the code, but can I?”
“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’ve got to always find someone in the crowd or someone on the court that is going to push you to be better.”
Djokovic also reflected on his defeat to Sinner at Wimbledon. Asked about how he went into that one just a day on from his five-set thriller against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, the Serbian said: “Oh man, I wish I could have a few more days to recover from that one, but I didn’t have that, and that’s part of the sport, I guess.
“I came out, it was a clean sweep from his side, he beat me, but I went out, and I gave it all, gave it what I could. As a competitor, I owe it to the sport, to myself, to my family, to the fans. But recovery is the big one. It takes more time to recover nowadays.”