"Fantastic news for tennis that we have a young superstar like Alcaraz" - Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is the latest high-profile tennis star to wax lyrical about rising sensation Carlos Alcaraz and his exploits this year.
The Serb heaped praise on Alcaraz for his humility and respectfulness and also hailed his rise as a boost for the sport.
"Fantastic news for tennis world as we have a new superstar like Alcaraz. I don't know him that well, I've never practiced or played with him, but he has a reputation as a very nice guy, very respectful, and he gets along very well with all the players, with me, of course as well, last year, year and half that I've seen him, in a few tournaments, he's been very nice. Him and Ferrero, his coach I've known for quite some time," Djokovic said.
Djokovic continued to talk about Alcaraz's game, which has been compared to the likes of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He stated that Alcaraz has a great mentality and is a very complete player for whom he wished the best.
"He's very solid mentally. Game wise, he's a very complete player. You know, everyone was expecting him to clinch one of the bigger trophies on clay because that was so far his most successful surface but he did it on the hard court in Miami in a style that is so impressive. You know, I wish him all the best and I think it's great for our sport that we have another big star," Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic is gearing up for the start of his claycourt season in Monte-Carlo. The Serbian was spotted hitting the practice courts ahead of the Masters 1000 tournament in the principality alongside Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka.
An overview of Novak Djokovic's record in Monte-Carlo
Novak Djokovic won the Monte-Carlo Masters twice, in 2013 and 2015, beating Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych in the final, respectively. Djokovic will be gunning for this third title this week, but the Serb's record in the tournament since 2016 has been very poor. He lost to Jiri Vesely in the second round in 2016 and Dominic Thiem in the third round in 2018.
He's reached the quarterfinals on two occasions in five attempts, once in 2017 where he lost to David Goffin and once in 2019, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev.
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Djokovic will head into this year's edition of the Monte-Carlo Masters defending 90 points and with only three matches played so far this year, he has his work cut out for him. However, with Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini and Rafael Nadal pulling out due to injuries, the Serbian will fancy his chances of going deep into the tournament and extending his lead at the summit of the rankings.
Djokovic faces either Marcus Giron or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opener.
Also Check Out :-Monte Carlo Masters 2022 Results