Novak Djokovic Returns to New York With a New Rival in His Sights
Novak Djokovic has spent nearly his entire professional career chasing the twin targets of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. By the time he won his first Grand Slam tournament, in 2008, the other two had 15 major titles between them. Fifteen years later, those twin monuments to sporting greatness are all but gone.
Federer retired last year and Nadal is recovering from injury in the hopes of making next season his swan song. For the first time in his tennis life, Djokovic is by himself at the pinnacle of the game. Or at least he was.
Carlos Alcaraz, the 20-year-old tennis prodigy from Spain, has given Djokovic a new rival to concentrate on wherever he goes. Just as Federer and Nadal seemed ever-present to him, Djokovic can be sure that for the rest of his career, the road to more trophies will usually go through Alcaraz. “Carlos is No.
1 in the world," Djokovic said. “Sure, there’s always an eye that follows him from my team." The men’s singles draw couldn’t have made the objective any clearer. If all goes according to plan, Djokovic and Alcaraz would meet for the fourth time in three months.
Their first Grand Slam encounter came in Paris, at a Roland-Garros semifinal in June, where fans were robbed of a potential epic as muscular cramping prevented Alcaraz from playing his best. The Spaniard had no such physical issues at Wimbledon in July, where he outlasted Djokovic in a grueling 4-hour, 42-minute final, a feat akin to beating a kangaroo in a hopping contest. Most recently, the two men met again this month in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where Djokovic prevailed as the best-of-three match went the distance.
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