Carlos Alcaraz has reacted to the statements by Novak Djokovic, who said last Wednesday that he still considered Rafa Nadal as his main rival. "Although Alcaraz is number two, before number one, has won a Grand Slam and is the future of our sport, I feel that the rivalry with Nadal is something difficult to eliminate just because someone has done great in the last year and a half. Rafa has been and will continue to be the toughest rival of my career", confessed the Serb after his training in Belgrade.
The Murcian, despite the fact that he has been disputing the number one in the world with Djokovic, has considered it natural that the Serb continue considering Nadal as his biggest rival in the modality. "It's normal for him to say that. In the end they have played 59 or 60 times; they have played Grand Slam semifinals and finals, and Master 1,000 finals... practically all the finals," he said this Thursday at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.
The current champion of the United States Open and who won the Argentine Open title on Sunday after four months out due to injury, stated that Djokovic cannot consider him his rival because both have only met once.
Alcaraz was number one in the world until a few weeks ago and was displaced from the leadership by Djokovic due to the injury that prevented him from playing the tournaments at the beginning of the year. Currently the Spaniard is number two in the world but, if he wins the Rio de Janeiro Open title this week, a title he defends, he will equalize the number of points with Djokovic and will question the Serb's leadership again.
"The fact that number one is fighting with him does not mean that he is his greatest rival or his rival. In the end they (Djokovic and Nadal) have shared the circuit for 20 years and have played great games. It is normal for him to say that", declared the Spanish tennis player. "And to be able to approach Djokovic in this case at number one in the world is a privilege," he added.
This Thursday, the man from El Palmar eliminated Italian Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in a highly contested match in the round of 16 of the Rio de Janeiro Open. His rival in the quarterfinals will be the Serbian Dusan Lajovic (80). In addition to Alcaraz himself, the other two Spaniards who advance to the next round are Albert Ramos and Bernabé Zapata. Pedro Martínez for his part, fell to the Argentine Sebastián Báez.
