It is completely inconceivable that Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are preparing for their assault on the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a friendly match between the stars of the two teams. However, an image as powerful as this is by no means rare in tennis, as Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic demonstrated this past Tuesday. The Spanish and Serbian players, who were the protagonists in tense and memorable on-court battles, practiced together ahead of their participation in the upcoming Australian Open (January 12-26).
The two players will be, barring any surprises from world number one Jannik Sinner, the favorites for the tournament which will take place in Melbourne. The Italian, already on Australian soil, refined his racket before the first Grand Slam of the year by playing an exhibition match against Alexei Popyrin, another original way to get in shape while avoiding the monotony of training sessions. solo training.
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Also this Tuesday, Djokovic began his on-court training as he aims to bounce back from a difficult 2024 and return to the top of world tennis by winning titles and finally moving away from Margaret Court in the title rankings singles Grand Slam of all time. To achieve this goal, he has teamed up with none other than British tennis legend Andy Murray, who will be his coach this season.
-The curious aspect of Djokovic’s start to training in Australia, as he seeks his eleventh title in this event, in addition to the change in his coaching staff, was the participation of one of his biggest rivals these recently, the Murcian Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spaniard, who had already started his preparation for the first major tournament of the year on Monday, positioned himself on the other side of the net to test himself against a top opponent. The friendly match did not disappoint. According to journalists present on the center court of Melbourne Park, the veteran emerged victorious, winning the set 7-5 thanks to his superior serving efficiency.
Despite the striking image of a friendly clash between Alcaraz and Djokovic, this is not the first time that the current world numbers three and seven have competed to help each other in their training. They had already faced each other at the Mutua Madrid Open, Roland Garros, Paris-Bercy and the ATP Finals in Turin in 2023.
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