Djokovic and Alcaraz break up forward of US Open as Serb advantages from uncommon feat
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz can’t be separated going into the US Open as they’re on target for a showdown within the ultimate. Feliciano Lopez named each males his prime picks for the title as they go into the match with a 2-2 head-to-head file. The retired Spanish participant additionally defined that Djokovic was the one participant who might go into the match with few matches and nonetheless be able to carry the trophy.
Djokovic lately obtained revenge over Alcaraz after dropping to the 20-year-old in final month’s Wimbledon ultimate. The Serb got here from a set-and-a-break all the way down to defeat him in a near-four-hour final in Cincinnati – his solely match earlier than the US Open.
It signifies that the world No 2 has performed simply 5 matches between the ultimate two Majors of the yr, with one in all them ending in his opponent’s retirement. But Lopez believes that gained’t be an issue in Flushing Meadows, claiming Djokovic is the one participant who can deliver his finest degree whereas being undercooked in comparison with his rivals.
“From Novak, I’m always expecting for him to perform at his best level because he’s been able to play some of his great tennis without playing a lot of tennis lately,” the previous world No 12 stated.
“He’s picking the right tournaments where he thinks he needs to perform well. He’s playing the Slams, he’s playing a few 1000s, but he’s not playing much lately. But he’s good enough to use some of the early matches to get to his best level.”
The 41-year-old anticipated Djokovic to seek out his finest degree by the second week as he continued: “So whenever he finds himself in the quarter-finals or maybe fourth round, quarter-finals, he’s already playing some of his best tennis.
“So he’s probably the only one now in the game with this ability to play very few tournaments during the year. He’s probably the player who is playing less now, but he’s still able to perform great when when he needs to perform.”
But he was nonetheless break up between Djokovic and Alcaraz when it got here to the title. “So I still consider Novak and Carlos my top picks for the Open,” Lopez added. Djokovic is returning to the US Open for the primary time since 2021 after Covid vaccine journey restrictions stopped him from competing within the States.
It signifies that the world No 2 wasn’t in New York final yr when Alcaraz lifted his first Grand Slam title. Djokovic has three US Open trophies to his identify however hasn’t gained the match since 2018, falling within the ultimate to Daniil Medvedev final time he performed.
The US Open returns completely to Sky Sports and NOW with feeds to all courts from 28th August.