Novak Djokovic lets loose: “Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz deserve a kick”

The ever-reliable Novak Djokovic also took the stage at Fanatics Fest in New York. The Serbian tennis player began his remarks by talking about the driving force that keeps him playing: “I think the secret is to always find new ways to motivate yourself, to inspire yourself to be better, and I think rivalries are important. You always have to find someone who pushes you to be better.”

The tour is dominated by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, players with whom Djokovic has an excellent relationship. Speaking of the two superstars, Nole joked: “I’d like to kick their butts every day… they’re the dominant force in tennis; they remind me a lot of myself.”

“Honestly, I think they have different styles than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal: with them, we were a very different trio. Facing Jannik or Carlos is like challenging myself from 10–15 years ago, and it hurts to feel that on the court. I know how to win, but am I able to put that into practice on the court?”

In recent days, Jannik Sinner has been at the center of a major debate that has unfolded primarily on social media. The South Tyrolean has come under fire from RAI correspondent Giovanna Botteri: “It really bugs me that Sinner is in Monte Carlo…”. With her was *Il Fatto Quotidiano* journalist Luca Sommi, who replied: “I wonder, you earn 70 million euros a year, but why don’t you do like Alcaraz, who kept his tax residence in Spain? Why do you have to go to Monte Carlo?” Then Botteri again: “What I always ask myself is, what does someone do with 70 million a year? You buy something—a car, two cars.”

The exchange between the journalists did not sit well with many of Sinner’s fans, who fired back: “Social envy—it’s a disease,” “It’s hard to consider these people ‘journalists,’ since they don’t even bother to present the facts,” “Here we go again with this story! There are at least three other Italian tennis players who put up flags to show they train in Monte Carlo two or three times a year and then return to Italy. But they don’t say a word to them.”