'I haven't played a player like him ever': Novak's big 'Roger, Rafa' statement on Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic suffered his first Grand Slam loss in 27 matches on Sunday, as he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon 2023 final in five sets. While the tennis witnessed a new Wimbledon champion in the form of Alcaraz, it also saw the end of Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak in Wimbledon. The Wimbledon 2023 men’s singles final ended after an exciting battle that lasted for four hours and 42 minutes.

3 Things You Need To Kno

• Novak Djokovic suffered his first Grand Slam loss in 27 matches
• Djokovic had never lost in the Wimbledon final since losing to Andy Murray in 2013
• This was Djokovic’s first-ever defeat in Wimbledon since 2017

ALSO READ | List Of Records Carlos Alcaraz Made After Defeating Djokovic To Win Wimbledon 2023 Title

Emotional Novak Djokovic Breaks Down while Contemplating Wimbledon Final Defeat

After Carlos Alcaraz won the Wimbledon 2023 final by 1-6, 7-6 (8), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, Djokovic opened up on his rare loss in the championship. The 23-time Grand Slam champion was reduced to tears while addressing his son Stefan who was present in the box for the entirety of the match. “Yeah it’s nice to see my son still there still smiling. I love you, thank you for supporting me and I give you a big hug and we can all love each other,” said Djokovic.

The Serbian great hailed Alcaraz for his show, he ended up drawing an epic Roger Federer analogy. “As for me, obviously you never like to lose matches like this. But you know, I guess when all the emotions are settled I have to still be very grateful because I won many, many tight and close matches in the past here. To name a few, you know, 2019 against Roger in that finals when I was match points down. Maybe I should’ve lost a couple finals that I won so I think this is even steven,” he added.

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He then jokingly admitted he never thought Alcaraz would emerge to be such a challenging player on the grass court. The 36-year-old also hailed the youngster.

"I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself," said Novak. "I would agree with that. I think he's got basically best of all three worlds. He's got this mental resilience and real maturity for someone who is 20 years old. It's quite impressive. He's got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defence that we've seen with Rafa over the years.

"And I think he's got some nice sliding backhands that have got some similarities with my backhands. Yeah, two-handed backhands, defence, being able to adapt. I think that has been my personal strength for many years. He has it, too. I haven't played a player like him ever, to be honest. Roger and Rafa obviously have their own strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is very complete player. Amazing adapting capabilities that I think are a key for longevity and for a successful career on all," he added.

With the win over Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest Wimbledon champion since Boris Becker in 1985. On the other hand, Djokovic was stopped in his charge to match Federer’s record of winning eight Wimbledon titles.