Carlos Alcaraz has been given a warning by Jimmy Connors to not focus solely on his rivalry with Novak Djokovic.
The 20-year-old has made it clear that his goal for the rest of the season is to overtake Djokovic in the ATP Ranking to end the year as World No. 1. This came after Alcaraz lost the top spot at this year's US Open, where Djokovic claimed his record 24th Grand Slam title.
In a recent interview, the Spaniard was asked how often he thought about the Serbian player.
"I think [about Djokovic] almost in every practice, I am not going to lie.
"I train with a goal. I go to the tournaments with a goal. To try to end the year as No 1. Novak Djokovic is on my mind in almost every practice. I have to practise my best. I have to go for 100 per cent in every ball to be able to catch him," he said.
However, tennis legend Connors stressed that Alcaraz must not lose focus regarding his rivalries with other players, such as Daniil Medvedev, who defeated the Spaniard in the semi-final at the US Open, and Jannik Sinner, who ousted him in the semi-final of the China Open last week.
"My first thought about that [Alcaraz’s quote] is even though Alcaraz beat him at Wimbledon, he’s been kind of a thorn in his side a little bit. But he’s got to be careful doing that because then you’re preparing for only one guy.
"And I understand also that you think ‘well if I’m playing good enough to be that guy, I’ll be able to beat everybody else too’ but that’s not really true because other guys have different games, as he saw with Sinner. And the way he plays is different than the way Novak, Alcaraz or Medvedev. These guys, they’re big, they’re strong.
"Some guys take a little bit more advantage of a short ball. Other guys play six, eight or 10 feet behind the baseline and are able to hit winners from back there, like Medvedev. You’ve got to be prepared for everybody that you play. So it’s your game. I would go out and I’d work on my game, because I thought my games should be good enough to play anybody, not just to play one guy but to play anybody.
"It’s not just Novak. It’s Sinner and Medvedev and a little bit of everything," the 71-year-old said on his Advantage Connors podcast.
Jimmy Connors says Carlos Alcaraz can win 15 Slams: “If he plays 12 more years, that’s 48 GS. If he doesn’t get too full of himself, I’d say 15. That is if he doesn't think he doesn't have to work hard & it'll come easy. He needs to continue what he's doing & looks like he will”
