Alcaraz<\/a> and Sinner in the best-of-three format.<\/p>\nNovak Djokovic says he has a \u2018better chance\u2019 of beating Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in best-of-three<\/p>\n
During his pre-tournament press conference, Djokovic was asked whether he likes his chances against the Spaniard and Italian in best-of-three sets matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, the physicality is logically the biggest factor in best-of-three, rather than best-of-five. But it\u2019s all connected, obviously, with the mental part and the game-wise. If you\u2019re physically not at your hundred percent against these guys, you know, you feel like you\u2019re half a step slower, and that affects the whole game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt affects the whole play, the rallies, and different aspects of the encounter.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that\u2019s what I said after the US Open, because I really felt that playing best-of-five against these guys at the latter stages of the tournament makes it really challenging for me. I feel like I don\u2019t come in as fresh as they do in the semis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s okay. I mean, that\u2019s just a biological fact that eventually I have to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic insisted he\u2019s working as hard as possible to maintain competitiveness in his rivalries with Alcaraz and Sinner, aged 38.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still working my hardest that I possibly can in the circumstances to challenge the guys or to challenge myself primarily, and really see how I can do on all the tournaments that I take part in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Masters events are played over almost two weeks. That\u2019s where I feel I have a better chance, you know, to win a trophy or to make a significant result.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2238739516-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Hu Chengwei\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Djokovic then offered up an honest assessment of his 2025 Grand Slam season, where he lost in four semifinals.<\/p>\n
2025 Australian Open SF [LOSS] vs Alexander Zverev \u2013 6-7 (RET)2025 French Open SF [LOSS] vs Jannik Sinner \u2013 4-6, 5-7, 6-72025 Wimbledon SF [LOSS] vs Jannik Sinner \u2013 3-6, 3-6, 4-62025 US Open SF [LOSS] vs Carlos Alcaraz \u2013 4-6, 6-7, 2-6<\/p>\n
\u201cOther than those matches that I lost to these two best players in the world, I think I played really good tennis in Grand Slams, and reached semifinals in each one of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it speaks about the level and the consistency, and so I\u2019m pleased with that, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did, however, admit that it has been hard to adjust to the new pecking order in men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, there\u2019s a part of me that always is a winner, that wants to be the best,\u201d said Djokovic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to experience the greatest things in this sport across 20 years of my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it does feel not ideal, I guess, when you really are playing big matches and you\u2019re losing against currently the best players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic spoke at length about his chances of beating Alcaraz and Sinner in best-of-three, but how has he performed against the pair in the shorter format so far during his career?<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic\u2019s head-to-head record against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in best-of-three<\/p>\n
In total, Djokovic has played nine career best-of-three set matches against the world number one and two.<\/p>\n
Holding a winning 5-4 record, there\u2019s certainly some evidence to suggest the Serb can get it done.<\/p>\n
MatchWinnerLoserScore2024 Shanghai Masters \u2013 FJannik SinnerNovak Djokovic7-6, 6-32024 Olympics \u2013 FNovak DjokovicCarlos Alcaraz7-6, 7-62023 Davis Cup \u2013 SFJannik SinnerNovak Djokovic6-2, 2-6, 7-52023 ATP Finals \u2013 FNovak DjokovicJannik Sinner6-3, 6-32023 ATP Finals \u2013 SFNovak DjokovicCarlos Alcaraz6-3, 6-22023 ATP Finals \u2013 RRJannik SinnerNovak Djokovic7-5, 6-7, 7-62023 Cincinnati Open \u2013 FNovak DjokovicCarlos Alcaraz5-7, 7-6, 7-62022 Madrid Open \u2013 SFCarlos AlcarazNovak Djokovic6-7, 7-5, 7-62021 Monte-Carlo Masters \u2013 2RNovak DjokovicJannik Sinner6-4, 6-2Novak Djokovic\u2019s best-of-three record against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Djokovic, his last best-of-three sets defeat against either player came at the hands of Sinner in Shanghai 12 months ago.<\/p>\n
With Sinner and Djokovic placed on the same half of the draw, they could meet again in the 2025 Shanghai Masters semifinals.<\/p>\n
Djokovic won\u2019t want to concern himself with a potential semifinal just yet, however, as he prepares to take on Marin Cilic in the first round on Saturday, October 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic has suffered defeats to the world number one and two at Grand Slams this year. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[430,2073,432,433,99,428],"class_list":["post-197401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-atp","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2233911862-2-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n