Former ATP player Marc Rosset believes that Carlos Alcaraz has a free highway in the coming years due to the gap between him and the rest of the field.
When Pete Sampras won his 14th Grand Slam, very few believed it would happen again in the coming years. Many even thought that we would never see a player win so many Grand Slams again on the ATP Tour.
Now, in 2024, three of them are well above that number, with Novak Djokovic having almost twice as many as the player he idolized growing up. All of them were good enough to win 30 Grand Slams, but they happened to come around simultaneously, which is why they had to settle for 20, 22, and 24.
Former player Rosset is floating that 30 number when it comes to Alcaraz. It's a bold claim, but there is some logic behind it. The Spaniard turned 21 in May, and after this year's Wimbledon, he is up to four Grand Slams overall.
He still has a chance to finish the year with five Grand Slams if he wins the US Open, which would be one-sixth of the achievement. It's not impossible when you really think about it, but mostly because he's so good.
Rosset thinks it's not impossible because the gap between him and the rest of the Tour is so big. The only player close to his level is Jannik Sinner, and he just beat him in Paris.
The rest of the field is miles behind them, especially Alcaraz, who, at his peak, may be impossible to beat for some, as Rosset disclosed in recent interview with L'Equipe.
"For him [Alcaraz] to reach 30 Grand Slams, that would mean almost three titles per season for nine to ten years, without injury, without the arrival of very big rivals. Afterwards, behind Sinner, I find that there is an abysmal void, with players who are too stereotypical."
Rosset, of course, is not the only player that shares this opinion. Plenty of former legendary players have praised Alcaraz and predicted a successful future for him, such as Mats Wilander, who called him the most exciting tennis player who has ever lived, he's still only 21.
He can only get better, but how much of a void will that create when he's already that much better than the rest? It's a scary thought because none look like they can step up at the moment.
"Alcaraz is today the only one who really does lots of different things, and I tell myself that he and Sinner could have a boulevard ahead of them."
"If the others do not ask themselves very quickly the right questions about what to add to their game, we should not then come and say: ‘We were unlucky, we fell at the same time as them."
Some players, such as Holger Rune and the aforementioned Sinner, have potential, but outside of them, there don't seem to be many capable of challenging the 21-year-old Spaniard.
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