"I'd pick Carlos Alcaraz over Novak Djokovic" - tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg on Australian Open winner

Noted tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg thinks that Carlos Alcaraz is more likely to win the Australian Open than Novak Djokovic however there is a caveat.

Djokovic has been the dominant force at the event over the years almost winning nine of them so far. He probably would have won his 10th last year but the whole vaccination fiasco saw him back on a plane before he even played a single match in the country.

He'll be back in 2023 and many are already wondering whether anybody could dethrone the Serbian in Melbourne. Obviously, Nadal is the defending champion and Medvedev played in the final but the sudden rise of Alcaraz has many picking him to take it.

He did really well last year but failed to battle past Matteo Berrettini in a thrilling 5-set match. Rothenberg was asked who looks more likely to win the Australian Open if it was being held n the next few weeks and he said:

"If that would be the case, at this point, I would actually pick Alcaraz over Djokovic, I think, because I just don't think Djokovic has the match prep."

He continued:

"I saw how slow he was to come back in the clay season this year when he didn't play Indian wells and Miami. He had a very slow start with the clay and so we'll see. I think he's gonna play some European tournaments this fall. I'd imagine he will get some matches. But in this imaginary scenario, where it's like the next big tournament, I don't think he has that time to get the confidence back."