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As we all now know, the 2022 US Open men’s champion is Carlos Alcaraz. He managed to beat Casper Ruud in a high-quality, four-set match in the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday evening. In doing so, Carlos Alcaraz now stands on top of the tennis world. This US Open victory marks the beginning of his Grand Slam title journey. And many are predicting that Alcaraz could be the one to go on and challenge the numbers posted by the big three.
Whether this materializes or not will not be known until maybe a decade or so! But he is certainly showing signs of being the next big thing in men’s tennis. After all, he is now the number one player in the world, so it’s hard to argue against his potential.
As you can see, my purpose here is not to look at what Alcaraz has already achieved, which is a lot. Instead, I want to address the question of whether Carlos Alcaraz will go down as the next legend of the game. So – here are my thoughts.
King Carlos – How Much Can He Really Achieve in Tennis?
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In my personal opinion, Carlos Alcaraz is on another level than many of the guys in men’s tennis. And I say this in terms of players that are already inside the top 10 in the rankings. The way that the guy moves, the way he strikes the ball, and his mental strength are already far ahead of his years. It’s almost hard to believe that Alcaraz is still a teenager, and many compare him to Rafael Nadal back in the day.
However, I’d say he is more like a modern-day Roger Federer. He is far more aggressive than Nadal, even when Nadal was around that age all those years ago. But let’s be honest, it’s perhaps unfair to compare him to those guys as he is reaching his peak almost 15 years since those guys burst onto the big stage! Regardless, he really is capable of huge things in men’s tennis. And for me, here are some real things that he could achieve if he stays fit and healthy:
Domination Once the Big Three Retire
I understand that other players will inevitably break through and challenge Alcaraz once the big guys hang up their rackets. But I can’t see too many players that will cause a huge threat to his dominance. I say that because Alcaraz is still just 19 years of age, and already he is beating most of the younger guys who are also at the top. So once guys like Nadal and Djokovic are no longer in contention, it’s not unrealistic to assume that he could dominate.
Grand Slam Titles – Double Figures
This is a big question at the moment, especially since he is now over the hurdle of winning his first Grand Slam. But how many could he win? For me, I think double figures is the absolute minimum. Assuming he plays into his early to mid-30s, Alcaraz will compete in 50+ more Grand Slam events at least. And he only needs to win nine more to hit double figures.
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