Rafa Nadal gives verdict on unexpected Djokovic season after Alcaraz assumptions

Rafael Nadal admitted that he didn’t expect Novak Djokovic to win three of the four Grand Slam titles this year. Djokovic recently made history by lifting his 24th Major crown at the US Open. But Nadal thought that Carlos Alcaraz would have proven to be more of a threat to the world No 1 at the Slams.

Djokovic had another dominant season at the Grand Slams, going 27-1 in matches. It was the third time in his career that he won three Majors in a single year after doing so in 2015 and 2021. With his latest triumph at the US Open, he became the only player in the Open Era to hold 24 Slam titles, having already surpassed Nadal’s old record of men’s singles titles.

But it wasn’t Djokovic’s new overall record that surprised Nadal, who expected that the 36-year-old would make history. “In the end we all know that Djokovic is what he is and that he has achieved something historic, something that had never been achieved before and all that remains is to congratulate him and in the end he has not surprised me either,” the 37-year-old told AS.

Instead, what surprised Nadal was a lack of competition from the rest of the field – especially the younger guys like Alcaraz. A 22-time Major winner himself, he continued: “I thought that this year, on a personal level and not as a player, I imagined Djokovic winning Grand Slam but I didn’t imagine him winning three because I think there is another young generation that is very powerful.”

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While the Spaniard expected his young compatriot Alcaraz to prove more of a challenge to Djokovic’s dominance – especially on the clay courts at the French Open – he was still impressed that the 20-year-old managed to end the Serb’s reign at Wimbledon. “Well, I think Carlos had a great opportunity at Roland Garros to prevent Djokovic from winning three,” he said.

Referencing Alcaraz’s severe cramps in the semi-final against Djokovic, Nadal added: “But unfortunately what happened to him physically happened to him, although later he made up for it and achieved something historic for our sport, at Wimbledon and happy for it. The season has been going on, I think that in the end the things that have happened have not been very surprising.”

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Nadal had previously claimed that he thought Djokovic was the most hungry when it came to the records. “I think Novak feels more intensely [about] this than I do. Had he not achieved it, it may have been a bigger frustration for him. Maybe that is why he did it. I think he has had the ability to take ambition to the maximum,” he told Movistar last month.

But Djokovic wasn’t in agreement with his rival and later told Sportal: “I have no intention of speaking in a negative light about him or Roger Federer – my respect towards them supersedes some negative opinions I might have. Again, that’s Rafa’s opinion and I, of course, don’t agree. I have my opinion, but I won’t share it as I don’t want us to go deeper into that. There is no need for that.”

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