Carlos Alcaraz stood in the way of his stupendous and precipitous victory at Wimbledon against the optimistic forecasts of Novak Djokovicunstoppable so far in 2023, with a handful of historical records within reach and with the conquest of the Grand Slam between his eyebrows.
Alcaraz defeated Djokovic
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz
The 36-year-old Serbian faced a new staging at the All England Club with an optimistic mood; with the idea of adding a new great to his record of merits, extending the distance of ‘majors’ won with respect to Rafael Nadal and establishing himself as the best in history as far as resume is concerned.
The eighth Wimbledon, like Roger Federer, the fifth in a row, as the Swiss achieved in his day and before only the Swede Bjorn Borg, in the Open Era, were in the palm of the hand of the Belgrade tennis player, who envisioned an even greater challenge that none of these legends had achieved: the Grand Slam, the four big ones in the same year.
Nothing went as expected Nole, who broke into the London club again with only four defeats so far this year and three more successes behind him. But above all, those of the Australian Open and the recent one at Roland Garros that gave him the surprise over Rafael Nadal in terms of the number of Grand Slams achieved. Twenty three for the Serb. Twenty-two for the Spanish.
Novak Djokovic did not fully count on the Alcaraz effect, a guy who is very serious in the world of racket and who has not taken long to stand out from the rest of the talents of his generation. «I thought I had problems with Alcaraz only on clay and concrete, but not on grass, but this year it’s been a completely different story. It’s been amazing how he’s adapted to the surface; he’s only played a couple of times here.»
The miscalculation that leaves the Belgrade tennis player without the world number one that consolidates the Spanish and without the option, one more year, of achieving the Grand Slam. A winner in Melbourne and, above all, in Paris, the most cumbersome tournament for his conditions, London and New York were favorable settings.
Without Federer on the horizon and with Rafael Nadal provisionally out of contention, with expiration marked, Djokovic contemplated a certain free way on his journey. Respected by injuries and without extra-sports matters to discuss or vetoes in his calendar, the Serb could give free rein to his ambitions.
And it is that nobody, until the irruption of Alcaraz, has been able to question the eternal dominance of Nole, the only active survivor of the legendary ‘big three’.
Not surprisingly, Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle, noted in his last column in ‘El País’, from Spain: «Honestly, I don’t see any tennis player on the current scene, with the exception of Djokovic, capable of stopping Carlos’ unstoppable rise. I imagine that he doesn’t have many years left and, therefore, I think that Spanish fans will have the opportunity to enjoy many more matches and celebrate many more victories on both hot and cold Sunday afternoons.»
(Also: Gerard Piqué «neglected» his children and Shakira traveled to Barcelona: this new controversy).
Alcaraz king of the new generation
The litter made up of guys like the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the American Taylor Fritz, the German Alexander Zverev or the Austrian Dominic Thiem has not yet settled. Something improved to appropriate a Grand Slam. On time. But none has the consistency to threaten the reign of the Serbian veteran.
The new times put the focus on the generation after. In which rackets like the Italians Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, the Danish Holger Rune, the Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime and, above all, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, stand out.
The twenty-year-old from Murcia from El Palmar has established himself as the great opposition to the Serb. In the obstacle that Nole did not have for his graduation party. For the golden brooch. Alcaraz is not passing through. He has come to stay. And he wants it all.
With the victory at Wimbledon, the Spaniard has already accumulated two Grand Slams in his list of successes. He goes further every year. And halfway through the course he already accumulates six trophies in 2023, one more than in 2022. Two ‘major’, four Masters 1000, successes on all surfaces… And the feeling that when Nole retires few are the ones who will be able to Questioning a domain that can become historical.
The third youngest player to lift the cup at the All England Club, after the German Boris Becker and the Swede Bjorn Borg; The fifth Spaniard to come out with the trophy under his arm on the London grass together with Conchita Martínez and Garbiñe Muguruza in women and Manolo Santana and Rafael Nadal in men applauds the challenge and assumes the challenge with the Serbian, the face-to-face for which sighs the circuit, lame in recent times of epic matches, duels with pending accounts and classic matches that keep memory alive.
Alcaraz learned from disappointment at Roland Garros where tension and anxiety can overcome him. The Murcian did not enjoy in Paris, where he was expected. He faltered under the impact generated by the legend of Djokovic and fell in the semifinals, without the expected resistance. He is prey to the responsibility of number one and overwhelmed by the weight of favorite status and expectations.
Alcaraz stands in the way of the goals of the Serbian who has accumulated twenty-three major titles and who had the Grand Slam in his plans. He three times closed the year with three ‘majors’ among his merits. In 2011 and 2015 he missed Roland Garros alone; and in 2021 the US Open that he could not play due to his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid. 2023 seemed like a unique occasion to obtain an achievement that no one has achieved since the Australian Rod Laver in 1969, the only one in the Open Era.
Australia and Roland Garros in the pocket, without threat of the big three, without vetoes in the tournaments, without firm opposition in the coming generations. And with Wimbledon within reach. Until Alcaraz appears. The type that epitomizes the new times.
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*With EFE