Novak Djokovic’s coach fires back at doubters after ‘strange’ Alcaraz suggestion

Novak Djokovic jokes about his age at the Australian Open

Goran Ivanisevic has revealed his amazement that Carlos Alcaraz was favourite for his French Open semi-final with Novak Djokovic as he warned the Serb has the hunger to keep on winning. “You can’t ever bet against Novak,” said the Croatian coach.

Djokovic won a male record 23rd Major singles title at the French Open and returns to world No.1 today for a 388th week. He leads both old rivals Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer in the GOAT race for the first time. He is now also halfway to a calendar Grand Slam and will be the red-hot favourite to win a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title.

But US Open champion Alcaraz was heavily fancied to win his generation game with Djokovic in the semis before the Spaniard suffered full-body cramps due to nervous tension.

And 1992 Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic admitted: “All this for me was a little strange. I read a lot of people saying that Alcaraz is a favourite against Novak. You cannot say that. The guy played 33 Grand Slam finals. He won 22 Grand Slams.

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“Alcaraz is the next unbelievable, he’s amazing, I love Carlos, and he’s going to win I don’t know how many Grand Slams, but you cannot say that he’s a favourite. Yeah, he played better coming here. But this is a Grand Slam. This is nerves. You see what happened in the third set to him. And Novak knows. Novak knows. Novak waits.

“Like Andy Roddick said, I read, he takes the legs, then he takes your soul, then he dig your grave and you have a funeral and you’re dead. Bye-bye. Thank you for coming. There are few more guys, always [Daniil] Medvedev, but Carlos, for sure he’s gonna be a threat. He’s going to be a threat on grass, he’s gonna be a threat on hard courts, he’s gonna be a threat everywhere. But, it’s always this ‘but’, he’s still young. You have Novak and you can’t ever bet against Novak.”

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Djokovic has now won six of his last eight Grand Slam tournaments though he missed the Australian and US Opens last year – he was deported from Melbourne – because of his refusal to get a Covid 19 vaccine.

The Serb, 36, insisted: “The journey is still not over.” after his straight-sets triumph over Casper Ruud. And Ivanisevic added: “I don’t know the goal with him. You need to ask him. It’s incredible, you know. If I go back last year to Australia where all this s**t started, and then slowly we didn’t know what to do. And now he’s with 23 Grand Slams, and it’s no end.

“I’m really sorry that Rafa is not here, but I said a long time ago, even before I became a member of his team, that him and Rafa, they’re going to go over 22. I am hoping Rafa comes back to win one more, and Novak is only player who can win the calendar Grand Slam. He was one match away two years ago, so he has a chance this year.

“But it’s still a long way. But Grand Slams are the goal. I don’t know how many, but I think in his body he has a lot more. He’s unbelievable, and he’s still moving like a cat on the court. He’s there, like Ninja, he’s everywhere. So it’s fascinating to see, because sometimes you think: ‘Okay, now you have 23’. But he’s gonna find some kind of motivation to win 24, maybe 25. Who knows where is the end?”

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