Djokovic says Sinner, Alcaraz reminds him of his younger version

Novak Djokovic has said that when he plays against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, it reminds him of his younger version.

The Serbian tennis star has become the most successful player of all time, but early in his career, he was dominated by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

However, with an improved diet and approach, Djokovic broke their duopoly in 2011, and never looked back. He is now the record Grand Slam winner with 24 titles, while Nadal and Federer are both now retired.

Djokovic, 39, is showing signs of slowing down with age, but he can beat anyone on his day, including Alcaraz and Sinner.

With age, Novak Djokovic has become a more aggressive baseliner who is keen to shorten points rather than lengthen them. However, when he was at his peak, he was a counterpuncher.

Conversely, Alcaraz scores more winners but also makes more mistakes and Sinner is more similar to Novak but plays a more offensive style.

Despite that, Djokovic believes it is like playing against a younger version of himself when he faces the Spaniard and the Italian, who have head-to-head records of 5-5 and 5-7 against him, respectively.

“I want to kick their [expletive deleted] every day of the week. But to be honest, when I see them play, there’s contrasting styles with Federer and Nadal, really contrasting styles,” he said, via TNT Sports.

“I showed up as well, different. Three of us, we were all different. And now with Alcaraz and Sinner being the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much.

“I’m like: ‘I’m playing myself from 10 years ago and 15 years ago’ and it kind of hurts me to feel that on the court. I mean, I know how to crack the code, but can I?”

After losing to Sinner in the semi-final of Wimbledon, Djokovic said that this would not be his last appearance at the tournament. The Serb has suggested that he would like to play until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.