Novak Djokovic comes into next week’s U.S. Open looking to overcome not just history but top-seeded defending champ Carlos Alcaraz.
Tennis icons John McEnroe and Chris Evert sound like they’d pick him to do both.
After a five-set loss to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Djokovic got a slice of payback Sunday in a classic victory at the Western & Southern Open.
They come to Flushing Meadows as the top two seeds, meaning any meeting would be in the final.
If the 36-year-old Djokovic wins, it would be his record 24th major title, which would tie Margaret Court’s all-time record for the most ever.
“I’d say that Novak is in an incredible spot,” McEnroe said on an ESPN call previewing the U.S. Open. “It’s a little bit apples and oranges with the men and women. It’s different — he’s looking at trying to get by [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer more than he’s looking to get by Margaret Court. But I’m sure when people bring that up, it becomes something that you feel is attainable and desirable because he wants to set records.
“But he’s handled it incredibly well. The fact that he’s passed Nadal and Federer is amazing, and the way he looks, he looks like he’s going to win multiple Slams more. It feels like he could go on for another two, three, four years at this rate. It’s remarkable what we’re watching, and certainly him and Alcaraz are the two guys coming in that you figure the odds are pretty good that one of those two is going to win it.”
It seems like it. Tennis’ best rivalry is emblematic of its changing face.
Serena Williams retired last year with 23 major titles, one shy of Court.
Djokovic is the only member of the men’s Big 3 playing right now — Federer retired with 20 Slams and Nadal (who has 22) has been nursing hip woes since January.
Cincinnati was the third time Djokovic faced Alcaraz, just 20, in his past three events.
He gutted out a 5-7, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) reversal of his Wimbledon loss, proving just because he’s venerable doesn’t mean he’s vulnerable. Not yet.
“This feeds into Novak’s strengths in his game and his life, and that is the mental aspect, the mental toughness,” Evert said. “The fact that he can get through adversity, and as you saw the Cincinnati match, which I don’t know how you guys felt, but I thought he was out of the match after eight games, but he came back, and he found that next level, and he found the conditioning. He figured it out.
“If he gets into this situation again where he’s in the finals to win, I think it could be a different story. Having lost Wimbledon will help him, because he learns from his mistakes. He learns from his drawbacks, and whatever he did there — which by the way, Alcaraz just played an unbelievable match and came up with unbelievable shots. It’s not that [Djokovic] did anything wrong. But he’s going to be more ready this time, the second time around.”
Djokovic missed last year’s U.S. Open due to his vaccine status.
He’s won the Australian Open a staggering 10 times compared to three victories in Flushing Meadows, with both Evert and McEnroe guessing that the status as the last major in a long grueling season may play a role.
“I don’t know the answer to that. That’s just an educated guess,” McEnroe said. “I mean, three ain’t bad. And he’s been in a lot of finals, so not going to lose sleep over that. He’s won 23, so something’s working better than anyone else.”