The Spaniard was reduced to tears after losing a close match to Djokovic at last summer's Games in Paris and admits that the defeat was the toughest experience of his career as he had his heart set on the Olympic title.

Alcaraz said: "It was a difficult moment. The truth is that it was a difficult moment because my objective from the beginning of the year was to win the gold medal.

"And that week I felt the need to do it. In the end that feeling can be wrong - to feel the need to do something - so in that moment when I didn’t do it, obviously after a defeat, 10-15 minutes after an objective you haven’t been able to complete, it’s difficult to put everything in perspective.

"And in that moment I felt that I had let my country down, that I had let the Spanish people down, for not winning the gold medal that everyone was expecting. And that’s why I reacted like that, letting my feelings go, and obviously speaking to the cameras, expressing myself in that moment, and showing to my country and to the world how I felt, I think it was necessary."

Alcaraz is seen as a leading figure in the new generation of tennis stars but doesn't think the new crop will be able to match the achievements of the legendary trio of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The four-time major champion said: "They have set the bar for tennis and what can be done at an astronomical level.

"There are many players capable of winning Grand Slams, of beating the best. Young players, including myself, who can really be fighting for great things.

"But getting to the point of that rivalry between Rafa, Federer and Djokovic, the truth is that it will be practically impossible to repeat that. We will have our battles; I will have my battles with great players, but a rivalry like theirs will be practically impossible."