Novak Djokovic gives his honest opinion on his struggles to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, ‘it hurts me’

They are so much younger, and have so much talent; more than enough to consistently overcome a player who is over 14 years their senior.

That being said, Novak Djokovic remains defiant in his continued presence on the tour. He still feels as competitive as ever.

However, when discussing these two great rivals recently at the Fanatics Fest in New York, he did admit that so many crushing losses at crucial stages of Grand Slams have taken their toll on him.

Novak Djokovic believes he can still compete with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

When first asked about how he feels about them, Djokovic insisted: “I want to kick their a—.”

However, he then explained how his attempts to overcome them differ from when he sought to break up the duopoly held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all those years ago.

What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?

Djokovic continued: “I’m like, when I see them play, you know, there’s contrasting styles with Federer and Nadal. Really contrasting styles. I showed up as well, different. Three of us, we were all different.

“And now, with Alcaraz and Sinner being the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much. I’m like, I’m playing myself from ten years ago. And 15 years ago, it kind of hurts me to feel that on the court. Like, jeez. I mean, I know how to correct the code, but, you know, can I?

“I think it’s always finding new ways to motivate yourself to inspire yourself to be better. And, you know, I think the rivalries are good. They’re important. You’ve got to always find someone that, like, you find someone in the crowd or someone on the court, who’s gonna, like, push you to be better.”

Novak Djokovic’s recent head-to-head record against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Across the last few years, since Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s dominance has rapidly enveloped the entire ATP Tour, Djokovic has been forced to play this duo countless times.

His continued presence at the business end of Grand Slam tournaments made this inevitable, and made his subsequent defeats that much tougher to take. He was so close, yet so far, given the size of the obstacles that still lay before him.

Djokovic currently trails Sinner in their head-to-head, with just five wins from their 12 meetings.

Meanwhile, he and Alcaraz both have five wins apiece against one another.

However, in his last six matches against these two, he has just one win, having beaten Sinner in this year’s Australian Open semi-finals.