Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz twice in three meetings in 2023.
Martina Navratilova has stated that the only person who Carlos Alcaraz stumbled against last year was Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz had a pretty successful 2023 season, starting the year as the World No. 1 and ending the season as the World No. 2. He won his second Major at the Wimbledon Championships, to add to the US Open title he won in 2022.
The Spaniard also successfully defended a Masters 1000 title (Madrid Open) for the first time — the youngest player to do so since Rafael Nadal at Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2005-06. Overall, he recorded a 65-12 win-loss record (84.4%) in the 2023 season.
The only player on the men’s tour who had a better season than Alcaraz was Djokovic, who won three Grand Slam titles (Australian Open, French Open, and US Open) and ended the season with a 56-7 win-loss record.
Alcaraz and Djokvoic met four times last year, with the former’s win in the title match at SW19 denying the Serbian a shot at the Calander Grand Slam. The other three meetings, at the Cincinnati Masters, the ATP Finals, and Roland Garros, went Djokovic’s way.
Former World No. 1 Navratilova has stated that Alcaraz did well to thwart the threat of almost everyone on the ATP tour last year, with Djokovic being the exception.
“I think he handled it [people gunning for him] pretty well last year, because he was number one the year before and then he ended up having a great year this last year, where everybody knows how to play him,” she said on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast.
“Now that was the sophomore year, so he ended it beautifully. The only person he couldn’t handle was Novak,” she added.
Martina Navratilova on Carlos Alcaraz: “Just stay, manage energy better and think things through yourself”
Carlos Alcaraz could regain the top spot in the ATP rankings if he manages to clinch the Australian Open title this fortnight. However, he will have to do that without his long-term coach Juan Carlos Ferrero by his side.
Ferrero, who has worked with Alcaraz since 2019, is currently recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and has not made the trip Down Under with the World No. 2 for the Melbourne Major.
Martina Navratilova has stated that she would like to see Alcaraz, in Ferrero’s absence, deal with in-game situations by himself and not look up to his player’s box for answers to everything.
“I would like to see him, especially now that Juan Carlos is not there, to see him just stay on the court a little more and don’t look at the box after every single point trying to get advice or encouragement. I mean the fans are on his side. It’s not like he’s not the favorite and everybody’s rooting against him,” she said, via the aforementioned source.
“So just stay, manage that energy a little bit better on the court and think things through yourself. I think that might give him confidence as well,” she added.
Alcaraz will get his 2024 Australian Open campaign underway with a first-round clash against Richard Gasquet on Tuesday, January 16.
