Carlos Alcaraz has openly criticised tennis for the demands and pressure it puts on him, with legendary rival Novak Djokovic now sharing his own thoughts.

Novak Djokovic has voiced this thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz’s ‘suffocated’ claim (Image: Getty)

Novak Djokovic believes Carlos Alcaraz’s comment about feeling “suffocated” by tennis was “too strong”. Alcaraz, along with Jannik Sinner, is widely-considered to be the flag-bearer for the sport, following on from the iconic ‘Big Four’ era dominated by legends Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

The Spaniard, still just 21, has been under immense pressure since the moment he won the US Open in 2022 and became the youngest player ever to become world No.1 at the age of 19. The mental and physical burden has already taken its toll on the Murcian in his fledgling career, with Alcaraz on Thursday pulling out of the Madrid Open – the home tournament he has won twice previously – because of muscle injuries.

The world No. 3 blamed his injuries on the “really right schedule” that is part of the “demanding” nature of tennis, having not recovered from the upper leg ailment that disrupted him during the Barcelona Open last Sunday. He said after his defeat in the Barcelona final: “Tennis is really a demanding sport. Playing week after week, so many matches in a row, and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions.”

The young tennis sensation went even further in his recent Netflix docuseries – entitled Carlos Alcaraz: My Way – by saying he feels “suffocated” at times. His comments in the documentary, which provides an unfiltered perspective of his ups and downs throughout the 2024 season, have caused alarm within the tennis community.

And those words were put to Djokovic, who faces Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid on Saturday, at a recent press conference. Djokovic said via Serbian outlet Sportal: “I understand that it’s a difficult word, that feeling of being ‘locked’ by tennis or life itself… It’s not easy. You have many challenges, one of them is the length of the season… It allows you to do something you love, but it also exhausts you. I understand why he said that, maybe it’s too strong a word.”

Carlos Alcaraz struggles to cope with the mental and physical demands of tennis (Image: Getty)

Two of Alcaraz’s four grand slams came last year, but the Spaniard grew visibly jaded as the season wore on due to the pressure of trying to finish the year as world No.1 – something he ultimately failed to do as he hit a slump from the Cincinnati and US Open onwards. In light of his poor recent form, he opened up this month about how he is once again being “killed” by the pressure to knock Sinner off the top spot this year, following the Italian’s recent drug ban.

“A lot of people are asking me, or are telling me, that I have the chance to become No. 1 if Jannik is not playing,” he said in a press conference. “So probably that pressure has killed me in some way.”

Alcaraz also admitted in his documentary that he frequently needs to take breaks from the sport, or else he begins to feel suffocated again. The series candidly revealed how he cannot bring out his best tennis when he is not happy or relaxed mentally, something that sometimes sees him butt heads with his coaches and trainers.

Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t share Novak Djokovic’s mentality (Image: Getty)

His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero claims he must become a “slave” to the sport in order to achieve his dream of becoming “the greatest player of all time”. And, in the most startling line in the documentary, he expressed doubt over whether Alcaraz has the dedication required.

“He has a different way of understanding work and sacrifice,” Ferrero said, comparing his player to 24-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic, also considered by many as the greatest player ever. “It’s so different that it makes me question whether he can really be the best in history.”

Alcaraz admitted: “I don’t take care of myself as much, I spend a lot of days enjoying life. Maybe more than I should. But I want to do it my way.”