Carlos Alcaraz has won two Majors this year – the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships – not to mention the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. The young Spanish champion has achieved incredible results for a player as young as 21, but there is a feeling that he can improve even more in the future.
2024 marked the beginning of a new era, with Carlitos and Jannik Sinner as new benchmarks for the men’s tour. Novak Djokovic is still able to win great titles as he showed at the Olympics in Paris but – at 37 years old – it no longer has the same consistency of the past. For the first time since 2017, Nole will finish a season without winning any Grand Slam titles (for the second time since 2011).
The 21-year-old from Murcia hit record highs in 2024, but he did not have the same consistency as his great rival Sinner. Alcaraz had some physical problems in the first part of the season and the fatigue accumulated in the summer did not allow him to shine at the US Open.
Carlos was eliminated in the second round in New York by Botic van de Zandschulp, playing a bad match and showing to be mentally saturated. The former world number 1 admitted that he had taken a step backwards mentally and that he would have to work harder on this.
Alcaraz is ready to help Spain
After digesting the disappointment in New York, Alcaraz is ready to help Spain this week in Davis Cup in Valencia. Spain has a tough group with Australia, Czech Republic and France. Before the start of the event, Carlitos opened up on his feelings: “It is the toughest group, but if you want to be the best, you must defeat the best. We have the advantage of playing at home. I have had a few days off after each tournament, but the best and worst thing about tennis is that it doesn’t give you time to relax and think about what you have achieved. I have not always had the opportunity to stay calm and think about my summer in recent times.”
Despite his immense talent, the feeling is that Spanish will have to be more consistent throughout the season if he wants to overtake Sinner and return to the top of the ATP ranking. Speaking with Sky Sports Tennis, former ATP ace Tim Henman discussed the comparison between Alcaraz and Sinner: “They will end their careers tied on 25 Grand Slams! I think they will both go past 10, which is an incredible achievement.
When I was playing and Pete Sampras won his 14th Grand Slam, I would have bet my bottom dollar no one is going past 14 Grand Slams, and then we’ve had Federer, Nadal, Djokovic go flying past it. In the context of the game, McEnroe won seven, Connors won eight, Becker won six and now we’re flippantly saying they are going to win double-digits.
Sinner and Alcaraz, they are phenomenal, they are going to win many Grand Slams. For me, it’s going to be who is also going to be part of the conversation? We’re looking at could it be Ben Shelton, Tiafoe or Fritz from the Americans? Is it going to be Holger Rune? Is it going to be Jack Draper? I think that’s going to be fascinating to see. You’re never going to just have two. Alexander Zverev is a little bit older, I’m thinking more the younger generation. Who can come through and win these Grand Slam titles and challenge Alcaraz and Sinner?”
The Spaniard can still improve
The Spaniard is still very young and has plenty of time to make further improvements to his game thanks to the help of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. In a recent interview with Esquire, Garbine Muguruza spoke about Carlitos: “There are moments when we think a lot about what we say, especially so that it doesn’t backfire. But I like to say what I think. Rafa is more reserved in that respect. I like Carlos, I see him more confident, younger, speaking more and saying what he thinks. And I believe people also appreciate that and not measuring your words so much.
I don’t know why I’ve been labelled as rebellious and misunderstood. Maybe it’s because on the boys’ side it’s been very quiet thanks to Rafa. By showing a little more happiness or anger and not being so emotionless, I’ve been branded as a rebel, but I haven’t felt like that at all. I’m a very emotional person on court, you could see it on my face.”
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