Former World No.5 Jimmy Arias has claimed that Carlos Alcaraz at his best is better than anyone on the tour and even the great Novak Djokovic can’t get to that level. Alcaraz recently defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in a five-set thrilling contest.
The Spaniard became the first player to beat the Serbian at SW19 since 2017 as he ended his 46 match-winning streak at the grass major. In fact, before the Wimbledon final, the duo had met in the French Open semifinal, which Djokovic had won in four sets after the youngster suffered from cramps.
However, Arias feels the young Spaniard was better prepared for the Wimbledon final as Djokovic was the favorite to win on grass.
After the Wimbledon final, Djokovic admitted he had never played a player like Carlos Alcaraz in his career and he has got the best qualities of the Big 3.
Speaking on Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, Arias said: “Before the Wimbledon final, a couple people asked me and I said – and this maybe sounds crazy but – he (Alcaraz) at his best level is better than anybody else. He’s better than Djokovic, Djokovic can’t get to the level that Alcaraz [can].
“This is the best level I’ve seen – him at his best. I didn’t know if he was gonna be able to bring it in a Wimbledon final against Djokovic, but I did also know that he’d be more relaxed than he was at the French [Open]. The French was a strange situation for him because he’s playing a, at the time a 22-time Grand Slam champion, and he’s favourite, by a wide margin. And I thought that was a strange mental hurdle for him.
“In the Wimbledon final, it was the other way. Now Djokovic is favourite and I knew he (Alcaraz) would play relaxed, or I thought he would, but it’s a Wimbledon final.”
Arias, who was a US Open semifinalist, added Carlos Alcaraz has added the best qualities of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in his game and thus he is a complete package despite being only 20-years-old.
“(On Djokovic) It’s so strange for me to say that the greatest player of all time’s peak isn’t as good as this kid who is 20 years old. But you watch Alcaraz and I don’t know how he’s done it so quickly. He’s sort of taken the ‘Big Three’ and combined all their strengths and put them into himself,” continued Arias.
Carlos Alcaraz will next take part in the Canadian Open.
