Tim Henman is backing Carlos Alcaraz over Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
Alcaraz is the World No. 1 again and is 20-2 on clay this year with wins in the Argentina, Barcelona and Madrid Open. Djokovic, meanwhile, is 5-3 on clay as he has suffered a dip in form recently.
Despite that, Djokovic remains the favorite at Roland Garros for some, especially with Rafael Nadal out through injury. However, for former British No. 1 Henman, he has Alcaraz fractionally ahead of the Serb and would love to watch them clash in the final.
“It would be an incredible match to watch,” Henman told Eurosport. “Djokovic’s standard is so high and we expect him to play brilliantly every day, but it’s not that easy. His career at this stage is about the majors, but he has been building up his timing and resilience for the Grand Slams.
“I’m sure, come the start, he will be one of the favourites. I would put Alcaraz fractionally ahead of Djokovic because he has played more tennis and had some good results on clay. The level of these two is just a little bit higher.
“Behind is [Casper] Ruud, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Holger] Rune, [Jannik] Sinner and [Andrey] Rublev – who won his first Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo; they’re all great clay-court players. The strength in depth is incredible. But Alcaraz and Djokovic are the two clear favourites.”
Alcaraz has certainly been impressive on clay and not just this year either. Henman acknowledges that the likes of Novak Djokovic and even Jannik Sinner could defeat the Spaniard.
That said, he would still lean towards Alcaraz.
“Not too many players can beat him [Alcaraz] on clay,” he added. “He is so sound. He serves bigger, better, and more accurately. He doesn’t make mistakes. His movement is as good as I’ve ever seen. He has great variation, comes to the net, uses drop shots. His forehand and backhand from the back of the court are incredible.
“Could Sinner beat Alcaraz? Yes. Could Djokovic, yes? But if I had to choose a player to win the match, I would say Carlos.”
The French Open commences at the end of this month on May 28 and will go on until June 11.
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