Djokovic Praises Alcaraz: "I Think He Has Reached the Tennis Level of the Big 3"

Novak Djokovic will begin his campaign at the Madrid Masters 1000 on Saturday against either Borna Coric or Matteo Arnaldi. While waiting to find out who his opponent will be, the Serbian held a press conference this Thursday.

He spoke on several topics, including Carlos Alcaraz and the level of play he has shown at just 21 years old:

"I think he has reached the tennis level of the Big 3. He has already achieved more than what we had accomplished at his age. He has a lot of time ahead of him and all the necessary tools to write the history of our sport.

His absence in this tournament is not good news because he is the new star of Spanish tennis, and the Madrid crowd is fully behind him. But it’s worth remembering that he won Monte-Carlo and reached the final in Barcelona. [...]

Rafa dominated clay, Roger dominated grass, and I dominated hardcourt tournaments. But I reached that level of tennis and dominance at 23 or 24 years old, not before.

Alcaraz isn’t even 23 yet, and we must remember that everything he has already achieved at such a young age is truly remarkable. We can already acknowledge that we will see him win more major trophies throughout the rest of his career."