21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is on course to become one of the greatest players of all time.
His versatility has made him incredibly tough to beat on all surfaces, but it’s his success on grass that’s surprised many.
A few weeks have now passed since he was victorious at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.
The Spaniard defeated Novak Djokovic on Centre Court in a dominant straight sets performance. His win - making him the FIRST player to beat the Serb more than once at Wimbledon.
To put that in perspective - not even the great Federer and Nadal were able to do that... Granted they faced the Djoker in the years much closer to his peak, Alcaraz’s ability to adapt to grass and be the man to beat so early has impressed many.
He now has a 24-3 W/L on the surface. Carlos has won three titles, and he even went unbeaten across two events last year.
Federer won at Wimbledon for the first time at 23, and Djokovic at 24. Alcaraz is younger than both - and already has two titles at SW19. So everyone is asking - what’s his secret to adapting so quickly?
Most knew he would be successful on multiple surfaces. Not even the bravest though - thought he’d challenge for Wimbledon titles so early. Even Djokovic - after he lost the 2023 Final said “I thought I’d have trouble with you only on clay, and maybe hard court, but not on grass”.
The reason I believe Alcaraz is so great is his variety. Like all of the great grass courters, the Spaniard has the ability to essentially put a tennis ball wherever he wants.
His ability to change the pace of a rally with a dropshot, or approach the net and win points quickly is what has helped win him Wimbledon on multiple occasions.
He completely outplayed Djokovic from the opening set this year, and he did that through a mix of brutal power, but also finesse.
So my question to everyone is - who can stop him at Wimbledon?
The person that comes to mind is obviously world No.1 Jannik Sinner. He’s another player of the early 2000s generation that will have an incredible amount of success.
Sinner is also only one of two players who’ve beaten the Spaniard at Wimbledon, so he’s definitely a force…
At the moment though, Carlos is in a league of his own on grass. He has - at the very least, 5-6 years of high-level tennis in front of him. So you’d be very brave to say he won’t keep winning consistently on the surface for years to come.
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