Djokovic plans to keep competing as Alcaraz takes centre stage: 'Still trying represent the older guys'

Novak Djokovic has talked about the changing times in tennis, saying how special the past 20 years have been and how youngster Carlos Alcaraz is now stepping into the spotlight. Djokovic explained how he and other greats like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray had amazing winning streaks during their playing days, calling their achievements rare.

Djokovic said that his best tennis happened between the ages of 23 and 33, and he feels Alcaraz is already reaching impressive levels even though he’s not yet 23. He also talked about the reason why he is still competing on the tour.

“It’s not something that is common, it happened once in every five seasons or something. Yes, there was domination, obviously, from Rafa on clay, or Roger on grass, me on hard court would win, whatever, three, four years in a row, Indian Wells, Miami, back-to-back. But that also came, for me personally, that level of I guess dominant tennis and achievements, when I was 23, 24 years old and then after that. So between, let’s say, 23 and 33 is when it was really happening. And now Carlos is still not 23,” Djokovic said.

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“We have to remember that his age and what he has done for his age is not also normal," Djokovic praised Alcaraz. “I’m sure that we’ll see a lot of him on the big stage with trophies in the future in, whatever, 10 years, 15 years, as long as he’s playing,” he added.

Djokovic plans to keep competing

Djokovic admitted that things are changing especially after Federer and Nadal retired from the sport. Djokovic noted the shift in attention to the younger generation, adding that it takes time for fans to adjust to this change. But Djokovic said that he isn’t ready to leave the game yet. He shared that he’s motivated to represent the older players and keep fans interested in tennis.

“I mean, the competition is always there. I think every generation has its different competition. It’s hard to compare eras. The last 20 years was dominated mostly by the four of us. Obviously when the three of my biggest rivals retired, you can feel there’s a shift,” Djokovic said.

“I guess it takes a little bit of time for people to accept the fact that Roger and Rafa are not playing, and Murray, and I guess one day myself, but I’m still trying to stay there and represent the older guys, the older generation. Hopefully that brings a positive effect to the tournaments and to the tour itself,” he explained.

“That’s also one of the reasons why I keep on playing is because I feel like it also helps tennis still thrive on the attention and crowd coming in and watching tournaments and getting interested. If you see the numbers actually of the attendance in the Grand Slams as well and some, like Indian Wells, it’s record-breaking crowd in the last few years. Which is good news that it shouldn’t be dependent on the big stars or legends of the game that retired.”

“It should be, it should, the sport should outlive everyone, the sport will outlive everyone, and the sport is more important than anybody individually. So we are all here in the service of a sport as well.”