Between Djokovic And Alcaraz

Posted on July 17, 2023

SIMBO OLORUNFEMI 

Nothing best describes the gulf in record between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz than the number of followers each has on Facebook. While Djokovic has over 10 million followers, Alcaraz only has 240,000. But guess who is World Number 1 at the moment. Alcaraz!

It is not as if Alcaraz himself is not accomplished, afterall he is World Number one. He has won 11 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including the 2022 US Open and four Masters 1000 titles under his belt. He is not only the youngest man in history to top the singles rankings at 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days old, he is the first teenager in the Open Era to top the men’s rankings.

He was just 15 when he turned professional in 2018 after a run through the junior circuit where he won 2 titles and rose as high as as world No. 22 on the ITF Junior Circuit.

The year 2022 would become a major turning point for Carlos Alcaraz. His exploits at the Madrid Open best captures it. The day after he turned 19, he would go on to defeat Rafael Nadal, who is a 5-time champion, world No. 4 at the time and the 3rd seed for the tournament.

The following day, Carlos proceeded to defeat the world No. 1, Novak Djokovic who was the top seed. Doing so, he became the youngest player to win a match against a world No. 1 since 2004 and also the first player to ever beat Djokovic and Nadal back-to-back on clay. He would top it by beating World No. 3, Alexander Zverev, in the final, defeating the top 3 seeds in 3 consecutive matches.

However, whatever Alcaraz accomplished in 2022 has turned out to be only a dress rehearsal for 2023. While he lost in the quarter final in the French Open in 2022, he made it to the final in 2023. He lost to Janik Sinner in the 4th Round in the Wimbledon last year, he is playing in the final today, against Djokovic who he lost to in the French Open final last month. On 20th March, he became World Number 1, which he lost weeks after, only to regain it, lose it and then again regain it before this year’s Wimbledon.

There are elements in Alcaraz’s playing style that reminds one of Nadal. Yet, in a way, he also packs elements from Djokovic’s attributes and on-court style.

There is no doubt about Djokovic’s line-up of stellar accomplishments. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total of 389 weeks in a record 12 different years. He has
finished as the year-end No. 1 seven times, which is a record. He has also won an all-time record 23 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, including a record ten Australian Open titles. Overall, he has won 94 singles titles, a record 38 Masters titles and a joint-record six year-end championships.

Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across 3 different surfaces. He is also the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam in singles by winning each of the 4 majors at least 3 times. He is the only player to complete the career Golden Masters in singles by winning all nine ATP Masters tournaments, a feat he has achieved two different times.

Without a doubt, Alcaraz’s record pales into insignificance, placed side by side with that of Djokovic, but that record becomes irrelevant once the 2 players set foot on the court. Whoever wins today makes history. Will it be Djokovic? Will it be Alcaraz? History beckons.

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