Who can stop Carlos Alcaraz?
After the final of Wimbledon 2023, Alcaraz and Djokovic are considered as new rivals, tit-for-tat in the felt ball village. But, when Alcaraz reached its peak at the age of 20, Djokovic was 36 years old. "I hope so," Djokovic replied when asked if last weekend's match was the starting point for a pair of rivalries. "He's going to be on the Tour for a long time, and I don't know how much longer."
Djokovic's rivalry with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, not to mention Andy Murray, has captivated tennis fans for nearly two decades. But time is against Nole, in establishing a similarly classic relationship with Alcaraz. Five-set epic matches like those at Wimbledon on Sunday will be difficult to repeat many times.
Djokovic has played Federer in 50 matches, including 17 at Grand Slams. He also faced Nadal 18 times in Grand Slam out of 59 confrontations. With Murray, Djokovic faced 36 matches, including 10 times in Grand Slam. Nole and Alcaraz have only met three times.
Looking at the current Next Gen generation, all have fallen behind the Spaniard. "Who's going to keep up with this kid in a few years?", 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash exclaimed after watching Alcaraz end Djokovic's 34-match winning streak at the grass-court Grand Slam.
Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal's uncle and former coach, candidly answered the above question after watching the Wimbledon final: "I see that besides Djokovic, no one can stop Alcaraz's stormy rise. But. Djokovic won't be playing for many more years. Spanish fans will have the opportunity to celebrate more victories, on warm or cold Sundays."
With neutral fans, they hope Alcaraz's rise to prominence will have a positive impact on his contemporaries, or the generation after him, as Federer and Nadal inspired Djokovic to become a great tennis player. great as it is now.
Jannik Sinner, 21, won Alcaraz in the fourth round of Wimbledon 2022 but has only reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam once so far. The Italian player last year lost to Djokovic in five sets, and this year lost to Nole after only three sets at Wimbledon. Besides Sinner, fellow countryman Lorenzo Musetti also won Alcaraz in the final of Hamburg last year, but so far has not been able to enter the top 10 ATP and has not gone past the fourth round in any Grand Slam.
The most anticipated person after Alcaraz right now is the world number four Holger Rune. The 20-year-old Danish player has strong play, elegant movement and fearless personality to become Alcaraz's future counterpart. In the last two Grand Slams, Rune reached the quarterfinals, in which he lost to Alcaraz himself at Wimbledon.
The people of the Next Gen generation, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev were expected to fill the void of the felt ball village after the "Big 3" gradually retreated backstage. But all could not get up, and then helplessly watched Alcaraz pass. Medvedev is the only person to have ever won a Grand Slam among these names, but has just lost quickly to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi-finals in less than two hours.
When the names around are not enough, many people will think Alcaraz is not difficult to sweep the big titles for at least another decade. But professional sports always contain many pitfalls. Alcaraz's opponent is sometimes himself. Physical problems caused the Spaniard to miss last year's ATP Finals, then this year's Australian Open.
Alcaraz definitely has to pay more attention to the body. Psychology and desire are the strengths of the Spaniard, so there will be no way he will retire at the top at the age of 25 like Ashleigh Barty. But motivation is also something that is not easy to maintain. Federer, Djokovic and Nadal often talk about the motivation they have for each other, as the trio pushes each other to the limit. They won a total of 65 Grand Slams, of which the most person was Nole just three more Grand Slams than third-placed Federer.
All hope Alcaraz will find a few counterweights to share in the glory as tennis enters a new era, after the "Big 3". "I think Alcaraz has brought Sinner and will bring more Holger Rune to the top, although Rune doesn't seem to have grasped the idea yet," said Mats Wilander, a seven-time Grand Slam champion. Reuters. "In the past, Federer has made Djokovic and Nadal think 'this guy won't give us anything, we have to go get it from him'. In the future, Alcaraz will probably be the 'guy' type of guy. So".
But anyway, that's for later. For now, fans still have the right to expect confrontations between Alcaraz and Djokovic, such as at the US Open - the last Grand Slam of the year. "That's good for the sport," said Nole. "World number one and number two play each other in five sets of five hours. Couldn't be better for tennis. Why don't we meet again?"
