A look into the latest ongoings in tennis, with Carlos Alcaraz setting the standard for the future of the sport and worrying signs for the likes of Novak Djokovic and some of the aging players ahead of what promises to be another fantastic year at Wimbledon.
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00:00 So, Penny, obviously, let's just address the elephant in the room with Carlos Alcaraz.
00:08 I mean, his meteoric rise in tennis has been quite incredible, winning the French Open
00:13 as well. We spoke about a year ago about his talent and how similar he is to Rafael Nadal,
00:20 for example. This is something incredible in tennis and he sort of really puts a bit
00:27 of security on the future of the sport as well, you think?
00:30 Yeah, I mean, I think he's amazing and he's shown that he can win when he's not even playing
00:34 very well. I don't think he was playing well. I don't think he had a lot of expectations,
00:39 maybe within himself. But I mean, you know, looking at the cold, hard facts of how he's
00:44 performed since sort of Cincinnati final, it's been really sort of wayward, I'd say.
00:50 But mentally, he's so tough and he puts everything into it. And I think the will takes him over
00:55 the line and I think that's what you need to have as a champion.
00:59 And going into Wimbledon, obviously, he's looking to defend it. Do you feel like he
01:04 can adjust to the grass surfaces again and get that title again?
01:08 I think he definitely can. I mean, he did it last year and he wasn't even really known
01:12 or considered to be a grass court player. He won Queens, he won Wimbledon, beating Djokovic
01:17 in the final. So you have to say that he's going to be riding on that wave, you know,
01:23 in a sense. So I think it's a case of who's going to stop Al-Kharaz.
01:27 And obviously, Yannick Sinner coming to World No. 1, you touched on his sort of consistency.
01:32 Is that sort of how he's done it? Because he's not really... he has sort of flown under
01:36 the radar at times and then suddenly he's the first Italian to beat to be World No.
01:40 1. It's quite remarkable. How sort of impressed by him have you been?
01:44 I mean, he's been amazing. I think since the Davis Cup in November last year, you know,
01:50 beating Djokovic after Djokovic had match points, I think that's really given him confidence.
01:54 It's similar to Novak's trajectory. If you go back to 2011, like in 2010, he took Serbia
02:02 to the Davis Cup and they won and all of that. And I think that gave him a lot of confidence,
02:06 you know, being within a team. I think it's different. These guys have to play as individuals.
02:10 And I think having that team around you has kind of boosted Sinner in a different kind
02:14 of way.
02:15 And obviously, we can't go without talking about Novak Djokovic. I mean, it clearly shows
02:20 that a year in sport is quite a long time, obviously so, so dominant. You know, having
02:25 surgery, possibly going to miss Wimbledon, his poor form as well to reflect that. I mean,
02:30 how much has changed in the Djokovic camp and can you see him getting back to his very
02:34 fantastic best eventually?
02:36 Yes, I can, because we have seen it before. You know, we've seen sort of dips in motivation
02:43 from Novak. It's not easy to maintain that top, top level for so many years. And I do
02:48 feel that whenever Rafael Nadal is no longer sort of in the picture, not intentionally,
02:55 but I think for sometimes, I think Novak needs that competition with his great rivals.