Carlos Alcaraz eliminated Alexander Zverev at the US Open, as the German explained after the match that the Spaniard is a level above him.
That proclamation in itself isn't strange in any way and rings true because the results speak for themselves. Djokovic won the Australian Open and Roland Garros, while Alcaraz won Wimbledon. The way the US Open is unfolding, one of them is pretty much guaranteed to win this Grand Slam as well.
Zverev, like many other players tried, but ultimately he wasn't good enough to overcome Alcaraz, who cruised in three sets. As the German explained in his post-match press conference, the other players just need to step up if they want to challenge the dominance of these two.
Well, I mean, I played Novak in Cincinnati, I played Carlos here. I think they are very, very similar from the level of the game. There are some things that Novak does better; there are some things that Carlos does better. I think they are at a level of their own at the moment. Yeah, the other guys gotta catch up. That's as simple as that.
It's not an entirely new concept for tennis because we saw only a handful of players dominate for a long time. Other players that were generally a level below stepped up at different times, and we got some parity. Even at the peak of the Big Three, we saw players like Stan Wawrinka step up and win Grand Slams, so it's possible.
This newer generation has scored wins over Djokovic, and even Alcaraz isn't unbeatable, but at the biggest events, they still manage to find a higher level. We'll see whether that changes in the coming months and years, as Zverev is one of those wanting to challenge the dominance. He came close a few times.
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