“Nadal nightmare” lives again with Carlitos

Novak Djokovic is reliving his longtime ATP rivalry with Rafael Nadal in a parallel universe with the rise and rise of Carlos Alcaraz.

The 36-year-old Djokovic escaped with a monumental victory at the weekend to claim a third Cincinnati title and level his series with the 20-year-old Alcaraz at two wins each.

Despite the fact that the win in three and three-quarter hours counted as revenge for last month’s Wimbledon final loss to the Spaniard, Djokovc fears that Alcaraz, 20, is fast taking over as his top rival.

The 36-year-old Serb leads Nadal – out injured since January – by a thin 30-29 margin in their career series.

But the eerie similarities between the pair of never-say-die Spaniards are too ominous for Djokovic to ignore.

After saving a match point and winning on his own fifth chance for the Cincinnati title, Djokovic is in a perfect position to compare and contrast his old and new rivals.

“The feeling that I have on the court reminds me a little bit of when I was facing Nadal when we were at our prime,” the Serb said.

Those kind of props sit well with Alcaraz:  “For me, obviously it’s great that he knows that every time he’s going to play against me, it reminds him playing against Rafa.

“That means we (his team) are on a good path. I’m working very well, but today was tough to deal with everything that Novak put me through.”

Alcaraz added: “Novak always put almost five, six, seven balls in (on)every point. 

“Fighting and running from one corner to other one every point is really tough to deal with almost the whole match.”