The 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz has been making waves in the tennis world lately, and he has already been compared to players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. However, Boris Becker thinks it is misleading to believe that Alcaraz can achieve the same level of Grand Slam success as the big three.
Although Alcaraz has two Grand Slam victories under his belt and became the youngest-ever world No. 1 in history at the US Open last year, Djokovic’s former coach has stated that it is too soon to speculate about the young player’s future.
Becker expressed his thoughts in a recent interview and said: “It’s almost impossible to avoid comparison with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. But please give him time to develop so that he doesn’t lose interest in the sport because we still need him for a few years. It is misleading to think Carlos can surpass 20 Grand Slam titles. I am convinced that three players will never again win more than 20 Grand Slam tournaments at the same time.”
As the current coach of Holger Rune, a young rival of the Spaniard, Becker will need to keep a watch on Alcaraz.
This week’s ATP 500 tournament in Basel was supposed to feature Alcaraz and Rune. However, Alcaraz had to withdraw because of a problem with his left foot’s plantar fascia and lower back muscle fatigue.
Boris Becker says it’s misleading to think Carlos Alcaraz can surpass 20 Grand Slam titles:
“It’s almost impossible to avoid comparison with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer. But please give him time to develop, so that he doesn't lose interest in the sport, bc we… pic.twitter.com/ZTsgpvv2Gt
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 24, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
Now ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 11th of October when he lost to world no.17 Grigor Dimitrov 5-7 6-2 6-4 in the 4th round in Shanghai (draw).
Currently, during this season Carlos owns a composed 63-9 match record. Carlos conquered 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. The Spaniard was the finalist in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.
Alcaraz will play next in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters). He will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 30th of October.