Exclusive: Carlos Alcaraz has ‘a lot of areas that he can improve on’ if he wants to rival Novak Djokovic – Tim Henman

After a stuttering finish to 2023, Tim Henman believes Carlos Alcaraz “still has a lot of areas he can improve on” ahead of the new season.

At 20, Alcaraz has already had a career that would be the envy of most tennis players, bagging two Grand Slams and ascending to the top of the world rankings.

After beating Novak Djokovic over five epic sets in one of the greatest Wimbledon finals of all time, many expected Alcaraz and the Serbian to forge a new rivalry but Henman thinks the Spaniard’s level is closer to that of Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner, who beat Djokovic twice en route to Italy’s first Davis Cup success since 1976.

“I mean, Alcaraz had an amazing year, winning his first Wimbledon title,” Henman told Eurosport. “He missed the early part of the year and he still finished No. 2 in the world. He was still in the race to finish No. 1 at the end of the year.

“He’s still so young. He’s still learning. You reflect on what happened at Roland Garros in the semi-finals, where after two sets, he suddenly got a terrible cramp. And I’m sure that was from the sort of nervous tension that went with playing that match against Djokovic. So, he’s still got a lot of areas that he can improve on.

“He’s got amazing all-round game, the versatility, but he’s still so young. He’s another one that just embraces challenges and he loves the competition.

“He has an element of a rivalry against Djokovic because they’re completely different eras, but also, I think [he’s] almost closer to Sinner and Rune. Those are three guys that I think are going to play each other an enormous amount in the biggest and best tournaments. And that’s so important for our sport. We love those rivalries.

“It looks like when Sinner and Alcaraz have played, they’ve had incredible matches. They are different personalities. They’ve got similar games. I think Alcaraz has got a little bit more versatility but in terms of ball striking and power from the back of the court, Sinner is phenomenal.

“I felt that Alcaraz was definitely a good step ahead of Sinner but the way Sinner played at the end of last year, I think Sinner has absolutely closed the gap.”

In modern sport, players are increasingly judged on their performance in the biggest events. For tennis, that has long been the case. Alcaraz missed last year’s Australian Open through injury and has never been past the third round at Melbourne Park, so will be eyeing a chance to improve on that record in January.

But Henman believes Djokovic will continue his relentless domination of the men’s game in 2024 and would not be surprised to see the Serbian add another two Grand Slams to his record tally.

“I would put Djokovic as the clear favourite, there’s no doubt in my mind,” Henman added, when asked who he expected to perform well in nest year’s slams.

“And then second favourite, I would put Alcaraz and Sinner together. Now, I know Alcaraz has won a couple of slams, but for me, Sinner, the last couple of months of 2023, he played at a different level, a new level for him. And I think that quality, but also the confidence and belief from winning those big matches, beating so many top ten players consecutively, was fantastic.

“Look, there’s only four majors next year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Djokovic won a couple and Alcaraz and Sinner won each. So only time will tell.”