sport news Carlos Alcaraz is the 20-year-old standing between Novak Djokovic and a record ... trends now

So studiously have Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic avoided each other that there is an element of Coe versus Ovett about Friday's French Open semi-final.

But now the match that everyone has wanted to see is finally here, and it is not just the clash of the year to date but an encounter that could yet define this and coming seasons.

The two great middle distance runners only met six times in their whole careers, and the same scarcity value applies to another pair of great athletes, the world’s two best tennis players at present.

It is a curiosity that they have only faced each other once before, which was when a deciding tiebreak saw the 20 year-old Alcaraz in last year’s Madrid Open, played at the slight altitude of the Spanish capital.

This is largely explained by injuries suffered by the Spaniard after he won the US Open, and also the ban on entering the United States (now expired) which Djokovic was prepared to suffer as a price of not being vaccinated against Covid. They have only been at the same tournament once this year, last month’s Italian Open.

The sixteen year chasm in ages means that this rivalry will certainly not have the lifespan of those seen between Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

John McEnroe will be among the greats of the game at Roland Garros to witness what will probably be the match which decides if the 36 year-old Serb finally moves ahead of Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam titles this weekend.

‘We hope that this goes on for a couple of years. Novak's 36, but he looks like he's 26 and Alcaraz is 20 and he plays like he's been around forever,’ said McEnroe, who will commentate for the BBC this summer.

‘To me, (Boris) Becker was the best player I ever saw at 17 or 18 when he won his first two Wimbledons. This guy Alcaraz, he's just turned 20 and he's the most complete player I've ever seen at this age, more than the other guys.

‘That obviously doesn't mean he's going to win as much as Novak, Rafa or Roger. Maybe even Sampras, but you’d be hard pressed to think he's not going to win many, many Majors.

‘Djokovic is going for history. He's trying to break the record, which is insane. It's just salivating this matchup, to see who's going to handle the pressures, the crowd is going to be nuts, as they often are in France. they are very emotional, I can’t wait.

‘I picked out Alcaraz and gave him a slight edge in this tournament beforehand, they are both getting it done in different ways. I'm hoping for an epic one.’