Novak Djokovic: “Sinner and Alcaraz awaken a kind of bête noire in me”
The world number one spoke about the two players who achieved some satisfaction against the Serbian this summer.
Novak Djokovic will turn 37 next year, but the Serbian says his desire for success will only increase after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner awakened the “beast” within him.
The world number one has had an extraordinary 2023, winning three of the four Grand Slams and taking it to 24, two more than his great rival Rafael Nadal and four more than the now retired Roger Federer.
The Serbian, however, did not have everything in his favor: 20-year-old Alcaraz denied him his fifth Wimbledon victory in a thrilling final and 22-year-old Sinner effectively excluded him from the Davis Cup final.
“The young people who are very hungry and very inspired to play their best tennis against me are an extra motivation,” Djokovic told the CBS News program “60 Minutes.” “I think they awaken some kind of beast in me.”
Djokovic has beaten Alcaraz in three of four matches this year – including the semi-final of the French Open, where the Spaniard suffered body cramps – but the Serb said his young rival had become a real threat.
Regarding the Spaniard, Djokovic explained: “He is a complete player like I haven’t seen in years”, adding that he used the defeat in the Wimbledon final as motivation for the swing on the hard courts of the United States, where he won in Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to reinvent myself and push harder than I ever have,” he concluded.
2023-12-11 17:10:01
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