Carlos Alcaraz baffles John McEnroe as brutal nine-word comment made

John McEnroe has delivered a stark warning to Carlos Alcaraz following his first round win at Wimbledon. The defending champion found himself in a tough match at the All England Club, needing five sets (7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1) to see off world No. 138 Fabio Fognini.

The 22-year-old stretched his winning streak to 19 matches after recent glory at the French Open and Queen's Club. However, Alcaraz looked anything but comfortable against the Italian, who is set to retire at the end of the season.

With Novak Djokovic eager to claim his 25th Grand Slam title and match Roger Federer's eight Wimbledon crowns, Alcaraz will know he needs to sharpen up quickly. Tennis legend McEnroe didn't hold back about the Spaniard's performance, branding the match a "wake-up call" for Alcaraz.

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"That's one of the most interesting first-round matches I can recall off the top of my head here at Wimbledon," McEnroe told the BBC. "I think the conditions helped that to some degree." McEnroe summed up his feelings in a nine-word message: "Carlos looked like he was flat as a pancake.

"Why? I don't know. Perhaps he assumed Fognini would fall away pretty easily. His serve was off. His forehand was off.

"For me to see him play like that was surprising but I have to give Fognini credit. But he was up a set and 4-2. He should have won the second set. He was up in the third and barely pulled that set out. He got blown out in the fourth. It's a good wake-up call for him. He won Queen's. Everything is perfect, same as last year.

"He wins the French, pulls out an incredible match, goes and parties in Ibiza, comes to Queen's, almost loses early but wins it, so the prep is pretty similar and the results you would expect to be similar. But he has some work to do."

Alcaraz's dip in form caught many off guard, though McEnroe's comments suggest it could have come at the right time for the Spanish star. Meanwhile, seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, 38, has his sights set on making history with what would be his 25th Grand Slam singles title as he nears the end of his career.

“Whether it could be my last dance, I'm not sure, as I'm not sure about Roland Garros or any other slam that I play next,” Djokovic said in a press conference. “My wish is to play for several more years. I would love to be healthy physically and also mentally motivated to keep on playing at the highest level. That's the goal, but you never know at this stage.

"And yes, I would probably agree that Wimbledon could be the best chance because of the results I had, because of how I feel, how I play at Wimbledon, just getting that extra push mentally and motivation to perform the best tennis at the highest level.

"This year I played two semi-finals. Unfortunately in Australia I had to retire. In Roland Garros I was outplayed by Sinner. I think I still played a decent level of tennis that showed me that I can still play on a very high level at the later stages.

"That's what is also giving me an extra, I guess motivation to keep going. Obviously clay court, yeah, probably slightly less chances to win compared to grass."

Despite losing the last two Wimbledon finals to Alcaraz, Djokovic remains ahead with a 5-3 lead in their head-to-head contests. The duo participated in a practice session on Centre Court ahead of Wimbledon and demonstrated strong mutual respect.

After their practice session, Djokovic said it had been a privilege to share the court with the defending Wimbledon champion, to which Alcaraz replied: "He said he was privileged to play this year because of me, because I was defending champion, but that was a big lie. I'm privileged to play with a seven-time champion here, it's crazy what he has done. Not only on grass but it's a privilege."

However, Djokovic couldn't help but respond with a light-hearted jab: "I'm looking for a little bit more respect from him," he quipped. "He's talking about respect but the last two years he didn't give me the respect on this court."