Djokovic piled the pressure on Alcaraz ahead of the French Open as he claimed the 19-year-old was without question ‘the best player in the world this year’ after losing his first meeting with the Spaniard 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) in the Madrid Open semi-final on Saturday, but Alcaraz has rejected the Serb’s claim.
“No, the truth is that I don’t think so,” the new world No 6 said of the 20-time Major champion’s bold statement, speaking to Marca. “For me the best in the world is the one who is No 1 and is the one who deserves it,” he added, throwing the baton back to Djokovic amid the pre-French Open mind games.
The five-time title winner said he would not be the best until he reached the No 1 spot himself, despite the praise from the Serb. He continued: “Now there is Djokovic, I am six, I have five left to be the best in the world.”
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“Winning here gives me a lot of confidence ahead of Roland Garros and it’s something I have as my goal,” the new world No 6 said after lifting his fourth title of the season. “My goal this year is to win a Grand Slam and hopefully it will be in Paris.”
He doubled down on his Grand Slam quest when touching on his goals for the rest of the season, adding: “Keep winning games like the ones I won in Madrid, keep winning titles. My goal until the end of the year is to try to win one of the three remaining Grand Slams. It is a great motivation for me and I will fight for it.”
