Former world No 16 Vijay Amritraj feels that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner now have Novak Djokovic’s number.
The erstwhile Indian ATP star feels that the wins that Sinner and Alcaraz have recorded against Djokovic will give them confidence in future battles.
He adds that Djokovic knows that these players have plans to beat him and are not intimidated by his aura.
Amritraj feels that the mental aspect of the game plays a big part at this level of competition.
“When I was playing against Borg, Connors, McEnroe, the best of my generation, I thought that on my good day, nobody could beat me. I was going to beat them. I knew it, they knew it and I knew they knew it,” Amritraj told Star Sports.
“Now, in their minds, Alcaraz and Sinner also know how to win against Djokovic. Djokovic knows it, Alcaraz knows it, and Djokovic knows that Alcaraz knows it.”
The 16-time title winner believes that there has been a notable shift in the body language of the players when Sinner and Alcaraz come up against Djokovic.
He feels that it is only going to get harder for Djokovic to defeat players like Sinner and Alcaraz
“There is a change in dynamic that you can feel, including in terms of body language,” he noted during the interview.
“The important thing for Sinner and Alcaraz is what they learned from the first few times they played against Novak.”
Amritraj feels that Alcaraz and Sinner are showing great markers of maturity in their battles with Djokovic.
He believes that young players often make the mistake of trying to force the game when things are not going their way.
However he noted that both Alcaraz and Sinner showed great patience in recent victories over Djokovic.
“What young players tend to do against a great champion is that when things get tough, they tend to force things.
“They don’t step back and say, ‘You know what, I’m fitter than him, I can play him longer on a point, so I don’t have to force the game and do too much’.
“That’s what was happening in the early matches.
“That’s why Sinner was able to win in Australia and Alcaraz was able to win last year at Wimbledon.”
Djokovic has been unable to win a title in 2023, losing the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz and suffering semi-final defeats at the Australian Open, Monte Carlo and Geneva.
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