French tennis player Alexandre Muller has highlighted
reasons behind why it is harder to face world number one
Novak Djokovic than
Spain’s young sensation
Carlos Alcaraz.
Both star players were involved in a few
feisty contests in 2023, which turned out to be a treat for tennis fans worldwide. Muller was recently quoted in a report revealing why Djokovic is far harder to face than Alcaraz.
“Djoko doesn’t let you breathe,” he
said. “There were 6–0, 2–0, I was afraid. We said to ourselves: ‘Am I going to
play?’ Whereas Alcaraz, he is more flamboyant, but I had small games where I
was able to win easily. Djokovic is more impressive.
“I wasn’t on cloud nine and didn’t
play my best tennis, but I played my game. But he was really strong. In
addition, I have a game that suits him because I play from the distance and in
this area he is better than me.
“They are two different games. We
talked about it with my coach Gérard Solvès. I told him that against Alcaraz, I
knew I was going to score plays. He tries a lot, so he makes a lot more
mistakes. But against Novak, I felt like if he wanted to put me three times
6-0, he could do it. He’s so solid, he doesn’t give any free points and it’s
more complicated for me.