After another successful outing at a major championship – this time, the just concluded Wimbledon, the question of “If the young Spaniard is the man capable of filling the big shoes about to be vacated by the big trio of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in the ATP category” has once again resurfaced and it’s still begging for answers from a lot of Tennis aficionados.
It should be recalled that the last 2 decades were strictly dominated by the three musketeers in the majors with a total of 65 grand slams shared amongst them. Just like the story of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominating football for about 15 years, the Tennis world has experienced what I liken to a “triopoly” in the men’s category for the last 20 years.
To make this more interesting, over this timeframe, we have had various tennis players who showed glimpses of exceptional talents and prowess, touted to either dethrone or succeed the “big three” but inconsistencies on their part were their undoing.
Names like Robin Soderling, Juan Martin Del Potro, Nick Kyrgios, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Alexander Zverev, Danil Medvedev, Stan Wawrinka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, etc easily come to mind. Some won grand slams, some got to the finals and lost, and others’ careers got blighted with injuries and indiscipline.
Now to Carlos Alcaraz, the man who seems to have other ideas from those names I mentioned above. So what’s so special about him or what’s the proof that he won’t just end up like those that had a similar start?
Here’s what I have to say about him based on what I have seen thus far. The 20 years old prodigy has had a remarkable run so far in his career. He is currently the world number 1 and is also the defending champion of the US Open. He also just won Wimbledon defeating Novak Djokovic – a 7-time champion in the final, denying him the opportunity to tie a record 24 grand slam victory currently held by Margaret Court.
Despite his inexperience on the grass surface compared to Novak, he dazzled the audience in a 4-hour 42-minute thriller with a display of athleticism, mental strength, composure, and maturity winning the game with a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 result.
His tenacity and drive for success are incredible. His last two outings at the All England Club couldn’t surpass a fourth-round exit. To make this clearer, this is only his fourth tournament on grass and he has already won the biggest trophy in it defeating one of the greatest players on that surface in the final. If that’s not remarkable, I don’t know what is.
Also, we can’t ignore his grit, endurance, and nerves of steel which makes him unafraid of his opponents – whoever they are. His route to be final wasn’t easy too because, in seven matches, he eliminated three top-25 players, as well as the players ranked No. 2 and 3 in the world to take the title.
The fans are tired of the dominance of the old goons. They want something new. They want a challenger – someone to break the yoke, and I think they have gotten their man in Carlitos. There was a loud chant of “Carlos! Carlos! Carlos!” repeatedly in that Wimbledon final against Djokovic, and that’s another proof that he’s special and maybe gradually becoming the fan’s favorite.
Here’s what his opponent, Novak – the man with the most grand slams won said about him. “For someone of his age to handle the nerves, be playing attacking tennis, and to close out the match the way he did, he came up with some amazing shots.”
“I must say, the slices, the chipping returns, the netplay, it’s very impressive. I didn’t expect him to play so well this year on grass, but he’s proven that he’s the best player in the world, no doubt. He’s playing some fantastic tennis on different surfaces, and he deserves to be where he is.”
At 20 years, 72 days old, Alcaraz became the third-youngest men’s winner at Wimbledon in the Open era (since 1968). He’s also the first player to defeat Novak in a tiebreak since Nadal did it last year at the French Open. He is the second-youngest player to beat Djokovic in a major after his compatriot, Nadal, in the 2006 French Open quarterfinals.
He is ranked the world No. 1 in men’s singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Alcaraz has won twelve ATP Tour-level singles titles, including two major titles (at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Wimbledon Championships) and four Masters 1000 titles. Following his win at the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz became the youngest man in history and the first teenager in the Open Era to top the singles rankings, at 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days old. (Wikipedia).
He has also won various awards such as the ATP Newcomer of the Year (2020), the ATP Player of the Year (2022), the ATP Most Improved Player (2022), and the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year (2023).
So, Is the wait for the new king finally over? Do we have a new sheriff in Tennis Town already?
Well, like I use to say “TIME WILL TELL”. But I push this question to you as well, what do you think?
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