"It will be very tough: Juan Carlos Ferrero refuses to call Carlos Alcaraz 'favourite' ahead of Novak Djokovic clash at US Open

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the coach of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, believes that the reigning world number two will not start as ‘favourite’ against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the US Open. The two will face off in the last-four round of the fourth and the final Grand Slam of the year on Friday.

Alcaraz cemented his spot in the semifinal after beating the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. On the other hand, Djokovic secured his spot in the last-four after beating America’s Taylor Fritz with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. It will be the ninth meeting between the two players in professional tennis.

In the previous eight meetings, Djokovic had a slight advantage as he came out on top on five occasions. Their most recent meeting came in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open earlier this year, where Djokovic emerged victorious with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Alcaraz’s coach, Ferrero, spoke to the media ahead of the much-anticipated clash and refused to give the Spaniard any edge over the 24-time Grand Slam winner. Ferrero admitted that Alcaraz is ‘playing spectacularly’ but he will not call him a favourite against Djokovic, who, according to him, will give ‘everything’. Ferrero also highlighted the importance of having the match in the daytime, which, according to him, will make the conditions better for Alcaraz.

“Carlos is playing spectacularly, with a lot of confidence, but I don't dare say that he is a favorite,” said Ferrero. “Novak will give everything, it will be very tough. In Australia, they played at night and that favoured Novak a little, with his flatter hitting. If we play here during the day, we think the conditions would be much better for us."

Djokovic has been highly efficient while playing in the Grand Slams this year, but has faltered towards the latter stages of the competition, mainly because of fitness concerns. He has featured in the semifinals of every Grand Slam this year, and on at least two out of three occasions, fitness played a huge role in his getting knocked out. After beating Fritz, Djokovic once again admitted that his body is not in the best of shape going into the last-four clash but remains optimistic that two days of rest will help him regain full fitness.

"I don't feel very fresh at the moment, but hopefully in two days it will be different," said Djokovic. "It's not going to get easier, I tell you that. I'm going to try to take one day at a time, really take care of my body, try to relax and recover. The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets if it's needed. I just would really love that, would love to be fit enough to play—and to play potentially five sets with Carlos. I know that my best tennis is going to be required, but I'd rise to the occasion."

Talking about his own performance against America’s top-seeded player, Djokovic stated that his objective was to hang in there and admitted that he did not feel like playing the best tennis of his career. "I was just trying to survive, just trying to stay in the rallies, make him play," said Djokovic. "I didn't feel [I was] playing well. I didn't feel my shots as well as I have a few days ago," he later added. "It's one of those days where you just have to grind. You just have to play with your heart and fight. That's what really gave me the win in the end."