Carlos Alcaraz backs 'dangerous' and 'hungry' Novak Djokovic for strong comeback

Carlos Alcaraz backed Novak Djokovic to make a strong comeback in the upcoming season. Djokovic won the gold medal in the Paris Olympics, but failed to win any other tournament.

In Short

• Novak Djokovic hasn’t played since the Shanghai Masters
• Djokovic did not take part in the Paris Masters and ATP Finals
• Djokovic did not win any Grand Slam in 2024

Carlos Alcaraz said that one should not write off Novak Djokovic going into the next season. Barring winning his maiden Olympic gold, Djokovic failed to win a single title in 2024. In fact, it was for the first time since 2017 that Djokovic could not win even a single Grand Slam in a calendar year.

But Alcaraz reckoned that Djokovic has the skills to make a strong comeback and will be one of the favourites to win the Australian Open title next year. Djokovic hasn’t played any tennis since losing to Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters.

"A really dangerous player. We've seen before that it doesn't matter if he doesn't play an official match for two, three, four months because he's going to come again and be able to win the tournament, be able to show a really high level of tennis. If he goes to Australia hungry, he's going to be one of the favourites to win Australia,” Alcaraz said to the reporters during the ATP Finals.

The 37-year-old Djokovic did not take part in the Paris Masters after which he withdrew from the ATP Finals as well due to an ‘ongoing injury’. Alcaraz said that Djokovic would be motivated to bounce back after spending quality time with his family.

He's going to be fresh

"He's going to be fresh, for sure. A lot of time with his family. He's had time to practice a lot, which is pretty good for a tennis player coming to a tournament with motivations. It's going to be fun to watch, for sure,” Alcaraz added.

As far as Alcaraz is concerned, he has had a disappointing time of late. He could not advance to the semis of the ATP Finals after finishing third in the John Newcombe Group. Alcaraz beat Andrey Rublev, but lost to Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud.