Novak Djokovic will go down as best ever, Carlos Alcaraz better than him at same age: Andy Roddick

Novak Djokovic will go down in history as the best-ever tennis player, according to former World No. 1 Andy Roddick. The American also believes that while Carlos Alcaraz is better at 19 years old than Djokovic was at the same age, the Serb has played better than anyone since turning 28.

Djokovic has won a staggering 14 Grand Slam titles since turning 28 in May 2015. The current World No. 1 is tied with Rafael Nadal at 22 Grand Slam titles after winning a record-extending 10th Australian Open in January 2023.

Andy Roddick recently stated that Carlos Alcaraz is a “more complete” player at 19 when compared to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at that age.

“I think he's the most complete 19-year-old male tennis player that I've ever seen. Roger didn't win his first Major until he was 21, Rafa won at 17, but he wasn't great on all surfaces until he was maybe 20-21-22," the American told the Tennis Channel.

One fan on social media then asked how Roddick would rate Alcaraz against Novak Djokovic, which led to him giving the ultimate compliment to the Serb.

“[Novak Djokovic] will go down as best ever. Carlos better at 19 than Novak was at same age. Novak playing better from 28 years old on than anyone has,” wrote Roddick.

Djokovic and Alcaraz have traded the No. 1 spot back and forth since the 2022 US Open. While Djokovic is currently in his record-extending 385th week at the top, Alcaraz has a great chance to reclaim the ranking in the coming weeks.

“Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal’s injuries opens the field to others at French Open” - Patrick Mouratoglou

French Open field open for all, says Mouratoglou

Meanwhile, tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently expressed his opinion on the upcoming 2023 Roland Garros. Mouratoglou stated that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal struggling with injuries would open the field for others.

"The fact that Novak, for the moment, is not finding his tennis, is a little bit injured, the fact that Rafa is now injured for a long time puts the two biggest players and the two best, probably of all time and the ones who are dominating so much on clay, in a very strange and unique situation and it opens the field to many others," said Mouratoglou.

Djokovic pulled out of the ongoing 2023 Madrid Masters after losing to Dusan Lajovic in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 Srpska Open in Banja Luka. He has struggled with a slight elbow injury since the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters last month.

Nadal, on the other hand, hasn't played any competitive tennis since the Australian Open. He is currently recovering from a hip injury he picked up in Melbourne.