World number one Novak Djokovic has revealed that his rivalry with Spain’s young tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz allowed him to ‘reinvent’ himself.
The 36-year-old was on the losing end in what was an incredible final at Wimbledon against Alcaraz who emerged victorious in a five-set thriller with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. Djokovic was recently quoted in a report where he expressed how his defeat in the final in London allowed him to reinvent himself.
14 & 9 - 14 years and 9 days is the largest gap between the WTA (Iga Swiatek) and ATP (Novak Djokovic) Finals winners in a year - the previous largest gap was between Steffi Graf and Ivan Lendl in 1987 (9 years and 99 days). Dominators. #NittoATPFinals | @atptour @WTA
“He’s as complete of a player I’ve seen in ages,” he said. “The loss at Wimbledon made me so angry that I needed to win everything on American soil, which I did. It’s a great opportunity for me to reinvent myself & really push harder than I ever did.”
Djokovic is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles. He had a fabulous 2023 where he ended up lifting three out of the four major titles.
Djokovic ended the year on a high as he clinched the ATP Finals in Turin after beating Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the final with a score of 6-3, 6-3.
