Carlos Alcaraz’s biggest sponsor Nike have been made to regret their post that suggested Novak Djokovic’s era of dominance is over. The American sportswear giant hailed Alcaraz after he downed Djokovic in an epic five-set Wimbledon final back in July.
Nike, who are one of Alcaraz’s highest-paying sponsors and have had an association with the Spaniard since 2015, posted on their multiple social media accounts: “The Alcaraz Era is upon us. An age in which age doesn’t matter and impossible shots are served with a smile.
“Congrats @carlitosalcarazz, youngest world no.1, on major no.2. Your time has only just begun.” While nobody would disagree that two-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz has a hugely successful future to look forward to, the months since Wimbledon have proven that Djokovic is nowhere near ready to relinquish his status as the No 1.
Not only has Djokovic beaten his younger rival twice – 5-7, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) in the Cincinnati Masters final and 6-2, 6-3 in the ATP Finals semi-finals, he has been close to unbeatable. Djokovic has won 22 of 23 singles matches, only losing a round-robin match against Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals. It did not matter as he got revenge on the Italian in the final.
The 36-year-old has won all of the five events he has competed in – the Cincy Masters, the US Open, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals as well as helping Serbia qualify for the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Across the entire year, he has gone 55-6 in singles with losses only to Daniil Medvedev, Lorenzo Musetti, Dusan Lajovic, Holger Rune, Alcaraz and Sinner.
Winning three of four Slams this year, reaching the final of a fourth and winning the ATP Finals and ending as the year-end No 1, all at 36, makes this one of Djokovic’s greatest ever seasons. But dauntingly he looks physically ready to do it all again next year.
And that has left Nike looking rather silly over their premature comment. Djokovic said ahead of 2024, in a pointed message to Alcaraz: “I have always the highest ambitions and goals. That’s not going to be different for the next year, that’s for sure. The drive that I have is still there.
“My body has been serving me well, listening to me well. I have a great team of people around me. Motivation, especially for the biggest tournaments in sport, is still present. It still inspires me to keep going.
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“For me, obviously those are Grand Slams, World Tour Finals and next year hopefully also Olympic Games. The mindset is the same. I’ll keep going. I don’t know whether I’m going to have as good of a year next year, but I’m going to keep this kind of freshness of mind and motivation to do that.”
Alcaraz’s form slumped a little after Wimbledon as he failed to win another tournament, though he reached the Cincinnati final as well as the semi-finals of the US Open, China Open and ATP Finals. The 20-year-old will be desperate to bounce back in Australia in January.
But certainly do not rule Djokovic out of winning a 25th Slam. After all, the veteran has won in Melbourne in all of the last four years he has competed at the Rod Laver Arena. And how the Lacoste athlete would love to prove to Nike that his era is still far from over even in the New Year.
