‘He’s got best of all three worlds’: Djokovic says Alcaraz’s game consists certain elements from Federer, Nadal and himself

Alcaraz de-throned the 36-year-old Serb on Centre Court on Sunday, winning a riveting Wimbledon final by 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. a game-style Djokovic later described as like facing a blend of the big three — himself, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.

Classy words from the seven-time champion.

An emotional Novak Djokovic speaks after his #Wimbledon final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz… pic.twitter.com/Lvg980Sbn8

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 16, 2023

Novak Djokovic said he has never faced a player quite like Carlos Alcaraz in his 23-year-old career.

“I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest. I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that.

In winning his first Wimbledon, to go with his 2022 US Open triumph against Casper Ruud, Alcaraz erased any doubts about his world number one status and avenged his cramp-affected loss to Djokovic in the French Open semi-final.

"Since I was born, you were already winning tournaments"@DjokerNole has been an inspiration for @carlosalcaraz from a young age#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/B5KrObv2Wm

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 16, 2023

Djokovic, who had suffered only two Wimbledon defeats since losing to Andy Murray in the 2013 final, said he was surprised at how quickly the 20-year-old Alcaraz had mastered playing on all the sport’s surfaces.

“He’s got basically the best of all three worlds. He’s got this Spanish bull mentality, fighting spirit and incredible defence that we’ve seen with Rafa. I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands, some similarities with my backhands.

“He is a complete player.”oger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that.

“In the tiebreak in the second, the backhands kind of let me down,” he said. “Set point, I missed the backhand. A little bit of a bad bounce, but I should not have missed that shot.

“Then 6-6, another backhand from middle of the court in the net. That’s it. The match shifted to his side and I wasn’t myself for quite some time.

“I managed to regroup and regain the momentum midway in the fourth. I felt that the momentum shifted to my side. That break point (in the fifth), I think I played a really good point, but it was very windy and the wind took it to an awkward place where I couldn’t hit the smash.”

Djokovic also received a warning for his racket-smashing antics, having had one for taking too long to serve at the heart of the second-set tiebreak. He was fortunate that the flying chunks of his racket did not make contact with an official or a fan.

“There’s not much to talk about that. It was frustration,” said Djokovic.