Novak Djokovic has been called a ‘dinosaur’ by his own coach Goran Ivanisevic who has warned Carlos Alcaraz about two other players who could challenge him at the US Open. Alcaraz followed his victory at Flushing Meadows last year by winning a second Grand Slam at Wimbledon last month.
With two Grand Slam titles to his name at the age of 20, Alcaraz is seen as the man who will be taking over the mantle from Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. With Nadal out injured this season Djokovic has taken advantage, winning the opening two Grand Slams to take his tally up to a record 23 major singles titles.
Roger Federer has already retired and with Nadal’s return to competitive action far from assured Ivanisevic says that the Serbian is the only ‘dinosaur’ remaining. He told Sportske Novosti: “Novak remains the only ‘dinosaur’ among those older ones, the rest are all young guys.
“It’s a normal sequence, but there’s still something to ask the elders.” Djokovic has been locked in a battle with Alcaraz this season, beating the Spaniard on his way to winning the French Open before the result was reversed in the Wimbledon final.
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The pair are set to re-commence battle at the US Open which gets underway later this month. However, Ivanisevic believes that Italian star Jannik Sinner and former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev can challenge them for the Grand Slam title.
He added: “Alcaraz is a story by himself, and Sinner is the only one who can threaten him at the US Open, along with Novak. The game that Sinner has doesn’t match Alcaraz and they have had very interesting matches so far.