Novak Djokovic has warned of five players who could prevent him from winning the Rafael Nadal GOAT war

Novak Djokovic has been warned of five players who could threaten his hopes of finishing in more Grand Slams than Rafael Nadal. Djokovic could be banned from playing the next two Grand Slams and Nadal knows that winning both would open up a three-major lead that may never be filled.

Nadal is still 19-0 in Grand Slams in 2022 in a year he took his record of triumphs to an unprecedented 22. He had to withdraw from Wimbledon before the semi-finals due to injury and therefore remains unbeaten at the majors on the court this year. In his absence, Djokovic halved the Spaniard's advantage with a four-set final loss to Nick Kyrgios.

But Djokovic's lack of vaccination means he is currently unlikely to play at the US Open as he is currently banned from Australia for three years after his visa was canceled earlier this year, also mainly because he is not vaccinated. This gives Nadal a chance to restore a two Slam lead over the Serb or even open a three Slam gap.

Djokovic would still love his chances to match Nadal even if he moves up to 24 Grand Slams, with the world number 7 younger and less injury-prone. But former British number one John Lloyd and 1987 Wimbledon winner Pat Cash believe there are five flourishing players who could hurt Djokovic's chances of winning more Grand Slams from the French Open. 2023.

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Lloyd told the BBC: "I would definitely choose him [Jannik Sinner as one of the best of the next generation], but the one I love the most is [Carlos] Alcaraz. maybe not so good against Sinner. But he will learn and I think he will win more than 10 Grand Slams. He is so good."

Alcaraz, 19, reached the quarter-finals of the last US Open and the French Open this year and has won Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid in recent months. While Cash has picked Denmark's Holger Rune and Norway's Casper Ruud, currently ranked fifth in the world, as two of the four players he's watching.

Cash added: "I think there are a couple of Scandinavians, Ruud and Rune. They are also very good. Sinner is of course a great player. And Jack Draper, I think he is doing very well. get out." Britain's Draper lost in the second round at Wimbledon, but the 20-year-old hasn't been on the ATP Tour long and reached the semi-finals at Eastbourne before playing SW19.

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Ruud reached the French Open final only to lose to Nadal as the 'King of Clay' won his 14th Roland Garros triumph. The 23-year-old had previously won the Geneva Open after also winning the Argentina Open in February, reaching the Miami Masters final only to lose to Alcaraz.

Rune, just 19, lost to Ruud in the French Open quarter-finals in June, but also showed great promise and won the Bavarian International and Sanremo Challenger in 2022. that Sinner, the world number 10 who was beaten by Djokovic in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, has not won any titles this year.

But the 20-year-old Italian has reached the quarter-finals of two Grand Slams and is 31-10 for the year. Alcaraz is the most favored of the lot with the world number 6, Next Gen of last year...