Djokovic believes Alcaraz can 'surf that wave'
Few understand long winning streaks like Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian opened the 2011 season with a record 41 consecutive victories, one of the most dominant runs in the history of the sport. Now he’s watching Carlos Alcaraz build momentum of his own, with the 22-year-old riding a 13-match winning streak, which includes a win over Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
“When you are winning so much, and you’re riding that wave, you don’t want to let go of that wave,” Djokovic said at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday. “You want to surf on that wave as long as you can, because the level of confidence is really high.”
The 101-time tour-level titlist believes that Alcaraz has the tools to keep going.
“He can do it,” Djokovic said. “He has everything that you need to have in terms of the game, in terms of the adaptability to different surfaces, and the level of fitness and recovery that he has shown and matured over the years.
“He needs to keep his body healthy. If he keeps his body healthy, he’s so good that he can win any tournament he plays.”
But Djokovic will hope to be the one to end his rival’s streak. The five-time Indian Wells champion is seeded to meet Alcaraz in the semi-finals, a match that would ultimately break their 5-5 Lexus ATP Head2Head series tie.
In Djokovic’s return to competition for the first time since his Melbourne defeat, he battled through a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win against Kamil Majchrzak at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.
“It’s good to be back on Tour,” Djokovic said. “Five weeks with no official match, I knew that the first match in such a long time would be a little bit tricky and challenging, with conditions that are quite challenging.
“But I managed to reset after I lost that first set right away in the second and really never looked back.”
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