Alcaraz leads tennis into new golden age

LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz not only swept past Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, the charismatic Spaniard’s fourth Grand Slam triumph confirmed a generational shift in men’s tennis.

He has won three of the past five majors and has joined Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander as the only men to claim four majors at the age of 21 or under.

That is an achievement that proved beyond even Djokovic, the retired Roger Federer and injury-plagued Rafael Nadal, the three men who collected 66 Grand Slams in a golden age that appeared to have reached its end with defeat for the 37-year-old Serb on Sunday.

Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero once predicted that his compatriot would win 30 Grand Slams. He already has a comfortable head start. Djokovic may have 24 Slams but after capturing his first at the 2008 Australian Open as a 20-year-old he had to wait three more years for his second.

Federer, who finished his career with 20 Slams, managed the 2003 Wimbledon title as a 21-year-old. Alcaraz’s compatriot Nadal, the holder of 22 majors, had three at 21 -- all at the French Open, in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Alcaraz’s Grand Slam collection currently comprises the 2022 US Open, the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon titles and last month’s triumph at the French Open. He is yet to lose a Slam final and is only the sixth man to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back.

His win in Paris last month made him the youngest man to claim majors on all three surfaces -- clay, hard and grass -- and before he turns 22 in May next year, he could move to six Slams.

Should he triumph for the first time in Australia he would depose Nadal as the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

“I normally call Federer the greatest player of all time, and that has nothing to do with the statistics or the results,” Wilander told eurosport.com. “It has to do with what he meant for the sport, the expectations that people had. Carlos Alcaraz is going through the same thing.”

Much has been made of the new rivalry of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the beanpole Italian who took Djokovic’s Australian Open title and his world number one ranking this year. However, Alcaraz, as well as being 21 months younger, has a better record at the Slams than Sinner, who won his maiden Slam in January. Alcaraz enjoys a 5-4 head-to-head advantage over Sinner, including a five-set triumph in the semi-finals at Roland Garros this year. “What he’s doing, having won the title at Roland Garros, flipping the switch to prepare on grass and reach the final, is scandalous,” said Ferrero.