Former world No 2 Casper Ruud says that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are very similar players but there is one key difference.
He believes that the two men play with a similar philosophy.
Ruud feels that Djokovic is more controlled while Alcaraz is a bit more full throttle.
“Carlos and Novak, they kind of play similar tennis in a way,” Ruud said
“Just there’s one thing that they do opposite. I mean, they have kind of all shots in the book. But Carlos maybe plays at a little higher speed in the way he can accelerate even more. But they move great. They have all shots. It’s tough to find their weaknesses.
“They both have a good drop shot. Carlos plays maybe more forehands, Novak defends from the backhand side.
“They’re good enough as it is on the net. They’ve got good hand skills and their returns are great. So obviously it’s always going to be a good match-up whenever they play each other. And you’ve seen it in the past four times that they’ve played.
“It’s always been a really, really good match. It’s a match-up that is going to be a treat for fans and who knows for how many years. When they play it’s going to be interesting.
Twenty-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is expected to “carry the sport” for the ensuing ten years, according to Djokovic.
“It’s fantastic to have Alcaraz in our sport,” Djokovic said.
“He is one of the leaders of this sport today and he is going to carry our sport for the next 10 to 15 years.
“We are going to see a lot of him, tennis is in good hands.”
When they last met, Alcaraz said that he had grown up idolising the 36-year-old, who was also the subject of some warm words from his fierce young opponent.
“It’s incredible to share the court with him in this event and in official tournaments,” he said. “I am learning from him.
“After watching him win the big tournaments I always dreamed about being in this position and playing against him face to face.
“I am really happy to play with him and hopefully, I can keep going. He seems like he is 20 so we are going to share the court more than once.
“I want to congratulate him and thank him for playing this match with me.”
Carlos Alcaraz is expected to be among the major rivals to Djokovic this season especially in Paris.
