It was in 2002 when Lleyton Hewitt became the last and only player outside the Big 4 to win the coveted trophy at Wimbledon, and it took a staggering twenty-one years for a new champion to emerge on the biggest show court of tennis. Carlos Alcaraz has surpassed all his contemporaries in style by winning his second Grand Slam at the All England Club.
His two closest peers, albeit the more experienced ones have won only a single Grand Slam each to their credit, Daniil Medvedev, 27, and Dominic Thiem, 29 both winning at US Open. Though there have been a plethora of next-gen players none have broken the stranglehold of the Big 3 in major championships as Carlos Alcaraz has done.
Why Carlos Alcaraz is head and shoulders above the current lot
In 2022, Carlos Alcaraz was just 19 when he showed the world why he was the next big thing in tennis. He had achieved a very rare that only a few of the elite players had achieved and none of the present generation could. He had beaten both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same tournament when he lifted the Madrid Masters. In the same year, he became the World No. 1 and also won the US Open.
A lifelong dream! 🏆💚 You always have to believe! I’m only 20 years old, everything is happening too fast, but I’m very proud of how we work every day. Thank you everyone for your support, from the bottom of my heart! 🙌🏻😍 @Wimbledon
📸 Getty pic.twitter.com/MsdjFqBhiO
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) July 16, 2023
It has been a tough ask for other players, who have shown promise but haven’t lived up to their billing, especially while playing against their bigger nemesis on the biggest show-courts of the world.
In this year’s Wimbledon as was the case last year, rising star Jannik Sinner lost to Djokovic in straight sets. Also, both Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune lost to Carlos Alcaraz without giving a semblance of a fight.
Stefanos Tsitsipas who has been knocking on the doors for quite some time, has lost to Djokovic in two Grand Slam finals- French Open (2021) and Australian Open (2023). Casper Ruud has also let his biggest opportunities go abegging, by losing 3 times in Grand Slam Finals: to Rafael Nadal in French Open (2022), Novak Djokovic in Australian Open (2022), and Carlos Alcaraz in US Open (2022).
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) July 16, 2023
To beat the best you simply have to be the best, and Carlos Alcaraz has shown his metal to the world, something that has been missing in his more experienced contemporaries. After winning the Wimbledon trophy, Alcaraz told the Spanish media, “Today, truly at the end of the match I had the feeling that I’m ready for these situations, to play epic matches with big legends and in big scenarios.”
It seemed that he was suggesting that his ‘moment of truth’ had arrived to become the Big 1 of the sport!!