{"id":446090,"date":"2026-01-31T23:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/446090\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T23:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:15:09","slug":"nadal-has-full-respect-for-djokovic-but-fancies-alcaraz-for-australian-open-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/446090\/","title":{"rendered":"Nadal has ‘full respect’ for Djokovic but fancies Alcaraz for Australian Open title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafael Nadal says he has “full respect” for old rival Novak Djokovic but tipped Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz to win Sunday’s Australian Open final.<\/p>\n

The 22-time Grand Slam winner, who retired from tennis in 2024, is set to attend the blockbuster title match in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

A two-time Australian Open champion himself, Nadal<\/a> believes world number one Alcaraz<\/a> is the clear favourite, but would not be surprised if 38-year-old Djokovic<\/a> caused an upset.<\/p>\n

“I think the favourite is Carlos,” Nadal told host broadcaster Channel Nine on Saturday.<\/p>\n

“He’s young, he has the energy and he’s in his prime. But I mean, Novak is Novak. He’s a very special player.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if Novak has lost a final here. It’s always a challenge and he likes the challenges.<\/p>\n

“(But) favourite is Carlos from my point of view.”<\/p>\n

Alcaraz v Djokovic video preview<\/p>\n

Flashscore<\/p>\n

Speaking separately to the Melbourne Age newspaper, Nadal said it was a “positive thing” to have somebody at Djokovic\u2019s age fighting with Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Djokovic stunned 24-year-old Sinner in the semi-finals over five tough sets to surge into his 11th Australian Open final. He has won all the previous 10.<\/p>\n

“I really believe that he is here for one simple reason – because if I don’t get injured, probably I will be here playing too,” said Nadal, who is one year older than Djokovic.<\/p>\n

“When you like to do this thing, if you are not injured and if you are not super tired mentally, why wouldn\u2019t you be here?<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a positive example of commitment, of resilience.<\/p>\n

“I mean, Novak, for obvious reasons, he’s not at his prime, but he is still very, very competitive at an age that is difficult to be very competitive. So full respect.”<\/p>\n

Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest man to win the Australian Open. The 37-year-old Ken Rosewall won it in 1972.<\/p>\n

He is also striving to finally win a record 25th Grand Slam and surpass Margaret Court, who is also expected to be watching in Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal says he has “full respect” for old rival Novak Djokovic but tipped Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-446090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}