When Carlos Alcaraz broke onto the scene, Novak Djokovic was already one of the greatest players in history. As much as the Spaniard respects the Serbian, he has brought an element of fearlessness to his matches with the longest-reigning World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

That has helped develop a captivating Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry between the sport’s two best players — a rivalry that blossomed in 2023 with four Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns. ATPTour.com looks back at those memorable matches here.

2023 Roland Garros SF, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of a blockbuster semi-final between Djokovic and Alcaraz in Paris, especially after their first meeting, won by the Spaniard just more than a year earlier.

That match more than lived up to the hype for the first two sets, with the competitors one-upping each other with shotmaking and defending of the highest quality. Both of the opening sets finished in dramatic fashion, with break points coming and going for both men down the stretch — 15 combined across the first two sets.

But after a promising start, what began as a titanic tussle fizzled out in favour of Djokovic. Alcaraz struggled with cramp, and was unable to play to his true level after the second set.

“[It was because of] the tension of the match,” Alcaraz said. “I started the match really nervous. The tension of the first set, the second set, it was really an intense two sets, as well.
Really good rallies, tough rallies, drop shots, sprints, rallies. It’s a combination of a lot of things. But the main thing, it was the tension that I had all the two first sets.”

“First and foremost I have to say tough luck for Carlos,” Djokovic said. “Obviously at this level the last thing you want is cramp and physical problems at the late stages of a Grand Slam. So I feel for him, I feel sorry. I hope he can recover and he can come back very soon.”

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz during their 2023 Roland Garros semi-final” />
^{Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}

2023 Wimbledon F, Alcaraz d. Djokovic 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
The odds were stacked against the 20-year-old Alcaraz leading into the Wimbledon final. Djokovic had won seven titles at the event and carried momentum having claimed the first two major trophies of the 2023 season. Alcaraz was playing just the fourth grass-court event of his career.

There were also dents in the Spaniard’s armour. On a surface he had proven himself on, clay, Alcaraz allowed his nerves to get the best of him against Djokovic at Roland Garros. Would the same thing happen on Centre Court?

After a lopsided first set, the answer was a resounding “No”. Alcaraz showed not only impressive shotmaking, but a steely resolve to withstand the Serbian’s relentless onslaught.

Djokovic had set point for a 2-0 lead on return at 6/5 in the second-set tie-break, and later missed a swinging volley on break point early in the fifth set. Alcaraz broke in the ensuing game and twice held serve from behind — escaping a 15/30 hole at 3-2 and 0/15 when he closed out the match — to earn his his second major triumph.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” the Spaniard said. “Of course it’s great to win, but even if I had lost, I would be really proud of myself with this amazing run. Making history in this beautiful tournament, playing a final against a legend of our sport.

Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic” />

^{Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images}

2023 Western & Southern Open F, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4)
Djokovic was down and nearly out in more ways than one. After Alcaraz emerged victorious from their slugfest of a Wimbledon final, some wondered whether the final of the grass-court major was a sign of the passing of the torch.

The Serbian did nothing to quieten those comments early in the Cincinnati final. Alcaraz led by a set and a break and appeared poised for another big win against his chief rival. But the 36-year-old relied on his champion’s spirit to claw his way back into the match.

Djokovic saved championship point in the second-set tie-break and battled through a tense three hours and 49 minutes to triumph in one of the best matches in recent memory. The match was the longest best-of-three final in ATP Tour history (since 1990).

“Just overall, one of the toughest and most exciting matches I was ever part of,” said Djokovic, who ripped off his shirt in the celebrations. “These are the kinds of moments and matches that I continue to work for day in day out. I was never in doubt that I can deliver the ‘A’ game when it mattered the most and [I am] just thrilled.”

Nitto ATP Finals SF, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2
Fittingly, the two most prolific champions of the 2023 season met in the knockout rounds at the ATP Finals, where champions become champion. In their fourth meeting of the year, Djokovic scored an emphatic victory en route to his record-breaking seventh title at the season finale.

With new life in Turin after Jannik Sinner’s group-stage win put him through to the semis, Djokovic brought a new mentality into the semi-final. Eager to take the initiative against Alcaraz, the Serbian’s aggressive game handcuffed his opponent as he dominated the early stages of the match.

Alcaraz grew into the match in the second set and, after winning several all-action rallies with his supreme athleticism, he created a 15/40 opening for a chance to level the second set at 3-3. Instead, Djokovic buckled down and served his way out of trouble. The World No. 1 did not lose another game as he closed out the statement win.

“I approached the match with the right attitude, the right mentality, and I knew from the very first point it was going to be greatly intense,” Djokovic said. “He had break points right away, 15/40 in the first game. That’s Carlos. He always brings out his best in these kinds of matches and starts with a lot of high quality tennis and intensity. You’ve got to match that, try to weather the storm, and I did that.”

ATP Tour and Grand Slam breakthroughs, career-high Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Davis Cup heroics, storybook Laver Cup debuts: Our four Most Improved Player of the Year nominees in the 2023 ATP Awards seemed to do it all this season.

Matteo Arnaldi, Christopher Eubanks, Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner showed an improved level of performance throughout the year and made significant jumps in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Nominees for Most Improved Player of the Year are determined by an International Tennis Writers’ Association (ITWA) vote. The winner is selected by players from the shortlist.

Matteo Arnaldi, 22

As if Italy wasn’t already deep enough with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sonego, etc. You can now add Matteo Arnaldi to that potent mix, an aggressive, physical baseliner from the Italian Riviera who in 2023 leapt from No. 134 into the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

It was a busy year for the 22-year-old right-hander, who collected a trio of ATP Challenger Tour titles in Tenerife, Murcia and Heilbronn, then battled through the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw in Dubai, Barcelona, Madrid, Wimbledon, Toronto and Beijing. After reaching his first tour-level semi-final in Umag, Arnaldi punched through to the Round of 16 at the US Open, where he stunned both Arthur Fils and Cameron Norrie. But the highlight of the year came in his Davis Cup debut in Malaga, Spain, where he dispatched Aussie Alexei Popyrin and helped lead his countrymen to their first title in 47 years.

A tearful Arnaldi won over tennis fans worldwide when he dedicated the victory to his girlfriend’s late father, who had passed away only weeks earlier.

“It’s very emotional, more because a very important person passed away a month ago for me and for my girlfriend,” he told the crowd. “So this is for him and she doesn’t know what it means to me — also for my country.”

Matteo Arnaldi” />
Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid. Credit: Getty Images

Christopher Eubanks, 27

You weren’t alone if you got caught up in late-bloomer Christopher Eubanks’ feel-good run in 2023, which saw the American crack the Top 100 with a quarter-final showing in Miami, claim his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca, then stun Cameron Norrie and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to his maiden major quarter-final on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon.

What made it even more remarkable was that the former ACC Player of the Year (Georgia Tech) pulled it all off while doubling as a Tennis Channel commentator, as adept on the set/behind the mic as he is on the tennis court.

The talent has been there all along. It just took some self-belief (and a pep talk from countryman John Isner) for the American to put it all together at 27.

“He reassured me, ‘You’re going to be fine, don’t worry about it.’ I think at that time I was ranked around 180, 170, something like that,” said Eubanks, who would later rise to a career-best No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “He really reassured me I was going to be fine. Practising with him and hearing his input really gave me a little bit extra push to kind of know it’s going to work out.”

Christopher Eubanks” />
Christopher Eubanks at Wimbledon. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Ben Shelton, 21

You couldn’t dial up a better debut than the one Ben Shelton lived out in 2023. The reigning NCAA singles titlist, the son of former ATP Tour pro Bryan Shelton, burst onto the scene in Melbourne, flashing his big lefty, power-serving game in reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals. Forget the fact that, until then, Shelton had never travelled outside the United States.

He one-upped that result at the US Open, downing compatriots Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe to earn a semi-final shot at Novak Djokovic. By year’s end, the onetime Florida Gator had helped lead Team World to its second straight Laver Cup title in Vancouver, claimed his first ATP Tour title in Tokyo, and rocketed from No. 96 to a career-high No. 15 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Ironically, it might have been Shelton’s mid-year stall that benefitted him most. (He failed to win back-to-back matches during a rocky February-to-August stretch, going 7-18 in tour-level matches.) He was learning in real time, playing on new surfaces in new destinations, quietly becoming a better, more experienced player.

“I definitely learned a lot of things. The list could go on and on,” said Shelton. “Going to so many different countries and playing on different surfaces, and just being exposed to different things. I know that it’s something where there’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve. I think that was a piece for me that I kind of had to keep my perspective and know that, ‘Okay, it’s not like I’m supposed to go out here and win every single match I play just because I did something good early in the season.’”

Ben Shelton” />
Ben Shelton in Tokyo. Photo: Koji Watanabe/Getty Images

Jannik Sinner, 22

Though he’s just 22, we’ve long known Jannik Sinner’s ceiling is a high one.

He cracked the Top 10 as a teenager, after all, and coming into this year had already reached the quarter-finals of all four majors and won six tour-level titles. But it was in 2023 that it all really came together for the lanky, hard-hitting baseliner, who, by going 64-15, set an Open Era record for most wins by an Italian player in a single season.

That mark included a personal-best 13 Top 10 wins, his first major semi-final (Wimbledon), his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title (Toronto) and a run to the trophy match at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he traded wins with year-end No. 1 Novak Djokovic. He also reached a career-high No. 4, matching legend Adriano Panatta as the highest-ranked Italian in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.

The Darren Cahill/Simone Vagnozzi-coached Sinner would save the best for last, leading Italy to its first Davis Cup title since 1976, the clincher coming in the form of a dominant 6-3, 6-0 dismissal of Australia’s Alex de Minaur. 

“I think, especially the second half of the year, mentally I was much, much stronger,” said Sinner. “I was not complaining so much on court when things were going in the wrong way. I think these kind of things, they make difference sometimes…

“One of the things where I can be really happy is that I played many, many important matches in the biggest stadiums we have throughout the whole year. This is something [that] hopefully can help for the next season.”

Jannik Sinner” />
Jannik Sinner in Davis Cup action. Photo: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images

Hamad Medjedovic’s breakthrough season all started on the ATP Challenger Tour.

After entering 2023 as World No. 255 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Serbian was the youngest player this year to win three ATP Challenger Tour titles and capped the season in the best way possible: winning the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM. Medjedovic, now ranked No. 113, is the sixth champion in the tournament’s history, a list that includes Top 10 stars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“It means a lot. To know that all the great champions [won here], it gives you a lot of confidence and a boost for next season,” Medjedovic said. “I will be coming into next year with a lot of confidence.”

#TheNextGenATP star boasted a 23-12 record on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, with titles in Szekesfehervar, Mauthausen and Mallorca. In May, the-then 19-year-old Medjedovic joined elite company, becoming the third Serbian teenager to win a trio of Challenger titles, alongside Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic.

“The Challenger Tour is a high level, many great players, you need to be really consistent. You need to play good tennis every week,” Medjedovic told ATPTour.com in May. “There are a lot of tournaments and a lot of great matches. Consistency, hard work, discipline, and a good mentality are the keys.

A confidence-boosting victory for Medjedovic came at the Mauthausen Challenger, where he downed former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals, which marked the Serb’s first Top 100 win of the year.

“I can’t even describe the feeling, it’s just incredible,” Medjedovic said after winning the Challenger 100 event in Austria. “The win against Dominic was a big highlight, [and the title] means everything to me.”

Hamad Medjedovic wins the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar.” />
^{Hamad Medjedovic wins the Rafa Nadal Open by Movistar. Credit: Alvaro Diaz}
Medjedovic then found quick success on the ATP Tour, reaching the the last four in Gstaad and Astana. He also advanced through qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The Jeddah champion credits the ATP Challenger Tour as a springboard on his journey.

“In the beginning when I started winning some matches, I started thinking, ‘I definitely have the level, I can beat these guys, I can play with them,'” Medjedovic said. “As time went on, I was winning more and more matches, then won my first tournament which gave me a lot of confidence. It’s for sure a great feeling when you know you can play with these guys and when you beat them.”

A four-time ATP Challenger Tour champion, Medjedovic will look to build upon his momentum in 2024.

One of the most interesting players in tennis is Jules Marie, currently No. 245 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. At 32, the Frenchman is working hard to earn his place in qualifying at the four majors.

But Marie is also a YouTube star, whose channel has more than 100,000 subscribers. Fans around the world follow his journey as a professional tennis player.

ATPTour.com spoke to Marie to learn more about his tennis journey, YouTube channel and more.

1) Jules’ Start In Tennis Might Surprise You
Some tennis players are whisked into the tennis world from a young age because of family members loving the sport. That was not the case for Marie, who began tennis aged eight because a friend at school was playing it.

None of Marie’s family members had been involved in the sport. He did not learn tennis at a big club, either.

“The club was really small. There was only one court. The court where you can play basketball, handball with all the lines, a very fast court with only one court. It was great,” Marie said. “I appreciated a lot tennis, but I was playing as well basketball, football, swimming and judo, because my father was teaching judo.

“When I was 11 years old, my father told me to choose only one sport and to do it 100 per cent. I was liking tennis more than the other sports. I loved the game.”

Marie admitted he was not one of the best juniors in France for most of his childhood. But when he completed his Baccalaureate at 18, he found his game. At 19, Marie entered the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

2) Marie Stopped Playing Professionally For Six Years
In March 2015, Marie climbed to a career-high World No. 228. Players he defeated that year include Robin Haase, Tallon Griekspoor, Zhang Zhizhen and Ilya Ivashka.

In May, he competed in qualifying at Roland Garros for the second time (also 13). Four months later, his professional career was seemingly over. By September, he stopped competing professionally following a seven-match losing streak.

“I lost seven times in a row, first round, and I was a bit surprised. I didn’t have confidence in myself,” Marie said. “I was not believing in myself anymore, because I lost a bit and it was costing a lot taking the flights every week. I was a little bit bored. So I said I’m going to stop.”

Marie played just nine professional tournaments in the next six years.

3) Then Came The YouTube Channel…
After he stopped competing on the world’s stage, Marie played prize money tournaments in France consistently, which helped him maintain his level. Living in Paris, he also gave lessons and worked a bit with the French Tennis Federation.

“I have a twin brother, Arthur. During Covid he got an idea how we can continue to help people to improve their games without playing,” Marie said. “He said he’s going to create a YouTube channel and to do one video per day during 30 days to improve, [provide] tennis tips.”

Jules joined his brother and began filming himself competing at prize money events, which helped build an audience. As a hitting partner at Roland Garros in 2021, he trained with stars including Novak Djokovic. All of it was on film, which he said gained attention. A top-level performance at a prize money event that December helped convince the Frenchman he still had the level to play at Grand Slam events. Marie then resumed his career, simultaneously focussing on YouTube.

4) He’s Earned More Than 19 Million YouTube Video Views
Since Marie’s channel launched in November 2019, there have been more than 19 million views on his videos. Today the Frenchman. has more than 100,000 subscribers.

“Thanks to the YouTube channel… I can pay everything, like the cameraman, the six other people who help me on this project,” Marie said. “I can pay the flights, the food, the hotels for everyone. It’s thanks to the YouTube channel, the sponsors. In 2014, and ‘15, it was my parents, it was me, so it was more difficult.”

Fans learn about Marie’s journey in the YouTube videos, but there is a big team behind his success. Some members of his team include a camera operator, someone who edits the videos, Instagram reels, TikToks and more, a graphic designer for YouTube thumbnails, a community manager for his channel, and an agent.

 

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A post shared by Jules Marie (@julesmarie_tennis)

5) His Future Goals Include…
Marie has quickly ascended the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and is already up to No. 245, close to his career-high, which he earned nearly nine years ago. Focussing on both his tennis and YouTube has helped, according to the Frenchman.

“Now it’s not the same pressure and it’s fun to do something next to the games,” Marie said. “It’s not only the games, it’s the games plus… I’m preparing for after my career.”

But for now, Marie is enjoying pairing his tennis and content creation. And he hopes to continue his climb to make things even more interesting for his fans.

“My first goal is to play all four Grand Slams,” Marie said. “When I was a child, my goal was to be No. 1 in the world, of course. And then my goal was to be Top 100. And now of course, I would like to be Top 100. But I will be really, really happy to play all four Grand Slams.”