Even though he is the world number one and recently won his first grass court tournament at Queen’s, Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz insisted on Sunday that Serbian Novak Djokovic is the “clear favorite” for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, because “he doesn’t do anything wrong on grass.”
“For me, clearly, Djokovic is the big favorite,” said the 20-year-old from Murcia in a press conference on the eve of Wimbledon.
“He makes everything look very, very easy. He moves really well. He hits the ball really well. It’s very difficult to find weaknesses in his game,” admitted Alcaraz, who will face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the first round of Wimbledon.
Alcaraz was defeated by Djokovic in the semifinals of Roland Garros, in a match where he suffered severe cramps. That was on clay, and now a potential duel against the Serbian would be on grass, a surface where the Spaniard is not a specialist, in addition to the “pressure” exerted by Djokovic in matches.
“He puts pressure on everyone, not just me. For me, that’s probably the toughest part when facing Novak,” he explained.
Last year, Alcaraz lost in the Wimbledon round of 16 to Italian Jannik Sinner, but since then he has progressed in his game and is one of the theoretical title contenders at the London event.
“There’s not much pressure for being the number one,” he emphasized.
Since he was crowned champion last Sunday at the Queen’s tournament, a traditional warm-up event for Wimbledon, Alcaraz acknowledges that “confidence has increased a lot” on that surface. Prior to Queen’s, he had never reached the quarterfinals in an ATP tournament on grass.
“I think my style of play is always to be aggressive. I think that’s the most important thing on grass: being aggressive, trying to come to the net, trying to hit the ball hard. That’s what I try on all surfaces, and I think on grass it works really well,” he asserted.
