It’s become the norm for professional tennis players to play practice sets ahead of tournaments in the modern era, and that’s what Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have been doing in Monte Carlo.
The clay-court season is one that takes some adapting to by the players and three big tournaments will take centre-stage before the French Open.
Alcaraz has a title to defend at Roland Garros and he will want to go well in the competitions being played in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome in the coming weeks.
The Spaniard has the utmost respect for Djokovic even though he was beaten by him in the quarter-final of the Australian Open back in January.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are on opposite sides of the draw in Monte Carlo and given they can’t meet until next Sunday’s final, the pair decided to play a set earlier this week.
What happened when Djokovic played Alcaraz in a practice set
As these things are always trial and error, it wasn’t played in a particularly competitive fashion, with the set not actually finishing.
Alcaraz did what he usually does and raced into a 4-2 lead but Djokovic rallied and got his way back into the contest.
The Serbian won the last three games that the two players competed in to run out a 5-4 winner with the 24-time Grand Slam champion enjoying a joke with Alcaraz afterwards.
Djokovic might be the elder statesman of the two players but he sent Alcaraz a stern reminder of exactly what he’s still capable of with a string of devastating shots.
The Serbian is going in search of a 100th ATP title in the coming weeks and going on this showing, it might not be long before Djokovic is toasting that milestone.
Djokovic has chance to claim 100th title before Jannik Sinner returns
Not that the legendary player can’t beat Sinner but for him to go through tournaments and potentially having to defeat Sinner and Alcaraz is going to be tough.
In the last 12 months or so Djokovic has struggled with some niggling injuries and keeping up with these younger players in the modern era will become increasingly more difficult.
Given that he can’t play Alcaraz until the final in Monte Carlo, there does feel like a golden opportunity for Djokovic at this particular tournament.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has two chances to get the century up before Sinner returns and after this breathtaking practice session, it will be fascinating to see how far he can go in Monte Carlo.
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