CARLOS ALCARAZ WON’T FACE THE BIG THREE, SO WHY NOT DREAM ABOUT NO. 25?
He has won three Grand Slam titles at age 21, and after Djokovic battled Nadal and Federer forever, the Spaniard doesn’t have immediate killer rivals when he mentions it — “reach the 24” — as a goal
His blue shirt and yellow shorts were covered in gleeful red clay. Why wash them? At 21, Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest man to claim a major championship on all three tennis surfaces. He wasn’t old enough to rent a car in Spain until last month, and in America, he legally can drink alcohol when he tries to win another U.S. Open. He also has conquered Wimbledon and, on Sunday evening, he consumed the French Open.
“Winning a Grand Slam is always special. Winning your first in every Grand Slam is always super special,” he said.
No one else would know, with his virginal stubble.
“He is better than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic at age 21,” John McEnroe said.
Has it occurred to the Djokovic/Nadal/Federer crowd that Alcaraz’s three Grand Slams can be enhanced, shall I say, with comparative ease? He doesn’t have to maneuver past the other members of the Big Three for two decades. In the semifinal at Roland Garros — a fighter pilot who invented the first on-board machine gun, so he loved the slayers — he beat Jannik Sinner, assumed to be his biggest rival for a while. In the final he came back and beat Alexander Zverev, who played after settling a domestic abuse case brought by his former girlfriend and the mother of his child.
If he can rid himself of cramps, which impacted his left thigh and required massages, do we see any reason why Alcaraz can’t keep winning through his 20s and deep into his 30s? The question is whether he’s the all-encompassing hybrid of the three masters who just unpacked 66 majors. Djokovic, the established G.O.A.T. appointee with 24 total, dominated hard courts with 10 at the Australian Open and four at the U.S. Open while authenticating his grass greatness with seven titles at Wimbledon. Nadal ruled the French Open clay 14 times and may or may not return to play, allowing his sculpture to attract gazes as we ponder his total of 22. Federer had similar impact, all but ceding Paris, winning at Wimbledon eight times and taking the Australian Open and the U.S. Open 11 times before retiring with 20.
Why not dream? The birth certificate permits it. “I always wanted to be one of the best players in the world,” Alcaraz said. “If I want to be one of the best players in the world, I have to be a good player on every surface, like Roger did, Novak, Rafa, (Andy) Murray. The best players in the world had success in every surface.”
Next week, when Federer’s feature-length documentary airs on Amazon Prime, he should make a nice visit for all three to watch in rehabilitation central. There, Djokovic recovers from knee surgery and Nadal deals with continuing hip and abdominal issues. More than six years ago, remember, Djokovic remarked of his fading career: “There were several moments where I was frustrated and questioning whether I can get back (to the) desired level or not.” He is 37 now. Nadal is 38. Federer is 42.
Alcaraz? Maybe he’ll try one night of annihilation, but for now, he preferred to thank his parents for having him. “I am lifting this trophy in front of you,” he told them at Court Philippe Chatrier after winning in five sets.
Wrote Nadal, in full grasp of his sport’s quick progression: “Congratulations Carlos for this immense victory!!!! Big!!!! Very happy for your successes!!! Vamos!”
The more advanced comment came from Zverev, who said, “You're already a Hall of Famer and you already achieved so much. Not the last time you're going to win this.”
Imagine his impending savvy as he keeps fighting through pressure, this time at four hours and 19 minutes, despite trainers tending to muscle pain and his complaints about the surface. “Unbelievable,” he told chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. Before long, he was rolling in the dirt, screaming at the sky, cramming his hands into his face.
As yet, Alcaraz has no brat hangups, rushing immediately into the stands to hug his coaches and team members. You hear nothing about him except an occasional slump, which is understandable with so much happening so quickly. He is 3-0 in the majors. With Djokovic out, he’ll be favored to win in London and New York. Avoiding injuries will be the trick if he wants to finish the year with five. Do the math to his late 30s.
“Probably this one is the moment that I'm really proud about myself, because everything that I have done the last month just to be ready for this tournament with my team, a lot of talks with them,” Alcaraz said of injuries. “So I'm going to say this one is the most that I am proud about myself.”
Showing his youth, in ways the Big Three never did, he’ll add another body tattoo of his Grand Slams. The U.S. Open is on the back of his neck. Wimbledon is on his right ankle. The French Open will be on the left, accompanied by June 9, 2024. “It's something I'm going to do. I don't know if it'll take a month, or two months, but I'll do it,” he said. “I just want to keep going, and let's see how many Grand Slams I'm going to take at the end of my career.
“Hopefully reach the 24, but right now I'm going to enjoy my third one, and let's see in the future.”
The 24th major. He said it. Consider it part of the public domain.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.