Tennis News: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Matthew Perry

Wouldn’t it be fun to just spend an afternoon watching Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic hit a tennis ball around even if what they were doing didn’t involve an important match in a tournament? Well, many people did this past weekend (and you can too in the video below) when Carlos Alcaraz and Djokovic practiced ahead of the Rolex Paris Masters this week. How did they do?

Djokovic hasn’t played since he helped his native Serbia defeat Spain (sans Alcaraz) in Davis Cup action in September. The last ATP tour match Djokovic played was when he won the US Open just ahead of when he played in the Davis Cup. Djokovic decided to take some off just to rest and have some fun before the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.

Carlos Alcaraz has been struggling a bit lately. At least, he’s been struggling compared to how successful he normally is in tournaments. For anyone else, what Alcaraz was doing might be considered OK. He hasn’t won a tournament since he won Wimbledon in July, but he has reached the semifinals of two tournaments and also lost to Djokovic in the Western and Southern Open in August.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic play a practice match

In the practice this weekend, Djokovic looked a bit sharper than Carlos Alcaraz even though Djokovic had not been playing recently. Unofficially, Djokovic appeared to win the practice 7-3. Alcaraz hit several ridiculously good shots, of course, and he also does that. But he also had several unforced errors. Maybe he was just working some kinks out.

Both players will participate in the Rolex Paris Masters that runs through Sunday. Only 500 points separate No. 1 Djokovic from No. 2 Alcaraz so the Paris Masters could help set up a showdown of year-end No. 1 that could be decided at the ATP Finals in November.

Matthew Perry was a massive tennis fan

In sadder news, actor Matthew Perry passed away this weekend from an apparent drowning. Perry was known to have a huge love of tennis. He even showed up to root for Iga Swiatek at the US Open final in 2022.

Perry played tennis when he was younger and was a fairly successful junior player in Ottawa. After moving to Los Angeles, he still played for fun but he knew he wasn’t as good as professionals and stopped playing the sport competitively. That didn’t stop him from showing up at tons of tournaments, striking up multiple friendships with players, and participating in celebrity tennis events.