Novak Djokovic v Carlos Alcaraz rivalry at top of world rankings 'great for tennis' says Alex Corretja

Eurosport expert Alex Corretja has given his thoughts on the burgeoning rivalry between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz after the record set by the Serb.

The 35-year-old, who had already broken Roger Federer’s record of 310 weeks as men’s world No. 1, surpassed WTA Tour legend Graf's remarkable tally on Monday when he moved to 378 weeks at the top. Ad Djokovic — who is also level with his great rival Rafael Nadal on 22 Grand Slam singles titles after he claimed his 10th Australian Open crown — has Alcaraz putting him under immense pressure for the top ranking, but has held him off for long enough at least to secure the record.

Roland-GarrosExclusive: Nadal still favourite for French Open according to Becker3 HOURS AGO Corretja, who has consistently backed Alcaraz to make a huge mark on the men's game, believes his emergence in challenging Djokovic is «something that is extra motivation because you need to know how to keep finding ways of improving your game». «I think it is nice, once you are there at the top of the rankings, to have someone pushing you,» Corretja told Eurosport about the developing rivalry between the two stars. «That makes you improve all the time and that makes you learn.

I think for Novak, it may not have been the number one thing for him in the last year when he could not play in many tournaments and the big ones, like Wimbledon, he did not get any points. »But as soon as he has got back into the rhythm of the tour again, he is gaining points and he is seeing that he is growing. He is seeing that the young ones are pushing him as well.