"Carlos and Nole are the two best in the world by far" believes Lopez but backs compatriot to rule tennis post Big Three

Former Spanish player Feliciano Lopez believes that young Carlos Alcaraz will dominate the circuit after the retirement of the current world number two Novak Djokovic.

The 20-year-old is now the talk of the town after securing his maiden Wimbledon triumph earlier this month following an impressive win against Serbia’s Djokovic in a five-set thriller with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4.

Lopez was quoted in a report where he stated that Alcaraz has all the tools to be the best player in the circuit after the retirement of the 36-year-old.

"Carlos and Nole [Djokovic] are the two best in the world by far,” he said. “We'll see how the year ends. Novak has two Grand Slams and Carlos has one. I think Alcaraz is going to dominate the circuit when Nole is gone, if everything remains the same.”

Lopez further went on to state that the final of Wimbledon was a ‘spectacular match’ and that winning it will prove to be a big step in the career of the current world number one.

"A spectacular match. It is very difficult to affirm that a new era has begun, but I do believe that it is a very big step in Carlos's career to beat Nole in a Wimbledon final," he said.

That victory was indeed a special one considering that before this year, Alcaraz’s best performance in the third Grand Slam of the year was reaching the fourth round he achieved last year.

On the other hand, that result also halted Djokovic’s march towards equaling the former world number one Switzerland’s Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles.

As things stand, the Serbian tennis star remains the joint second-most successful player in the history of the competition, having won it seven times, equal with the former world number one America’s Pete Sampras.