It’s tough saying goodbye to legends of the game – in any sport.
Just in the last while rugby had to say cheers to Morne Steyn, soccer greeted Zlatan Ibrahimovic and tennis had no Rafael Nadal at the French Open, while India cricketing great MS Dhoni is flirting with retirement.
Some of these sporting greats hou partykeer net te lank vas aan die glory days. Others are wise enough to retire at their peak.
But somewhere in the middle there is a crossover period when these legends faced the legend-in-the-making. The nat-agter-die-ore rookie who knows he’s got it all.
This time around, we're all crying 😢
— AC Milan (@acmilan) June 5, 2023
For the one and only @Ibra_official 🔴⚫#SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/NtaWkHbXc3
On Friday we’ll see such an occasion when the ouman Novak Djokovic squares off with the new kid on the block Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal of the French Open.
Look, of Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer, I always preferred the latter.
Might be his South African links, I don’t know. Never really been a fan of Djokovic, it’s only in his later years and with Federer not on the scene that I am beginning to appreciate him. That, and the fact that I don’t like windgat new guys. Not a fan of change.
Alcaraz will dominate the sport for years to come. I made peace with that – especially after seeing how he manhandled Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round after losing serve early on. Boy’s got some nerve.
I had hoped Greek Russell Brand-lookalike Stefanos Tsitsipas would put him in his place in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night, but then he just blew him away as if Tsitsipas was a qualifier playing in his first Grand Slam.
Now I’ve been watching tennis Grand Slams closely since 1989 and not once have I seen a player with machine-like ability like Alvaraz.
He is a new breed – the most complete tennis player these two eyes of mine have seen to date. And he’s just 20 years old.
Still, I don’t like him… yet.
At the other end for the court on Friday is a player reaching the sunset of his career at the age of 36. As the missus rightly pointed out: “I don’t know if Djokovic has the pace to deal with Alcaraz’s powerful groundstrokes”.
What the Serbian has is mental toughness. It’s a superpower of his. A balanced game, he has the ability to counter Alcaraz tactically.
Djokovic would want this game to drag out. You can expect a fast start from the young Spaniard. He might even blow away the Djoker in the first set.
But as we’ve seen when things don’t go his way, like in the third set against Tsitsipas, Alcaraz has his weaknesses too.
🔜 SEMIS IDEMOOO 💪![CDATA[]]>🏼![CDATA[]]>🙌![CDATA[]]>🏼![CDATA[]]>🙏![CDATA[]]>🏼![CDATA[]]>🎾![CDATA[]]>🔥☄️🇫![CDATA[]]>🇷 #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/2sT5KIE2Qh
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 6, 2023
From where I’m sitting that comes into play later in the match. And that’s exactly when Djokovic gets stronger – like in his quarterfinal tie against Karen Khachanov.
He lost the first set 6-4. But I knew he’d bounce back. I reckon the Russian knew it too.
And despite playing his best power game, Djokovic just chipped away as his slow mental poison took hold of his opponents and netso, he won the final three sets 7-6, 6-2 and 6-4.
Now Alcaraz, despite only being 20 years old, won’t go down that easily. He will fight you even if you have match point and he’ll believe that because he’s already world number one, he can still beat you.
On Friday we get to see two eras colliding – it will be a match for the ages. As for the smart money? It’d be on Alcaraz, for sure. But I know who I’ll be backing. What about you?