Carlos Alcaraz's achievements at the age of just 21 are incredible. Tim Henman does not see the Spaniard slowing up and believes he will continue to win Grand Slams for the foreseeable future.
Alcaraz secured two Grand Slams before the 2024 season began: the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. However, the Spaniard's 2023 ended stutteringly, and some wondered whether a difficult 2024 could follow.
Unfortunately for his rivals, Alcaraz has been outstanding in the last few months. He claimed his first French Open title by overcoming Alexander Zverev and then dismantled Novak Djokovic to win another Wimbledon title.
The 21-year-old also reached the gold medal match at the recent Olympics. Djokovic avenged his two Wimbledon final defeats to Alcaraz by beating him 7-6, 7-6 to secure his first gold medal.
What makes Alcaraz's success even more remarkable is he does not feel he has played his best tennis in many matches this season. Serena Williams once said she would beat most players at 70% of her best level, and the same seems to apply to Alcaraz.
The Spaniard's unique ability has not gone unnoticed. Djokovic's former coach, Nikola Pilic, believes Alcaraz is simply a greater talent than Sinner. If that is the case, that poses a problem for the Italian in the future.
Former British No. 1 Tim Henman is another man who believes strongly in Alcaraz's continued success in the future. The former Wimbledon semifinalist told Tennis365 he is excited to watch how successful the four-time Grand Slam champion will be.
"To have won four Slams on three different surfaces by the age of 21 is just mind-boggling. With his game, how sound he is physically, technically and mentality, I think he will keep winning."
"He has such a good team around him and that’s vital at this age. It’s going to be so exciting to see how many majors he wins over the next decade and you could say the same thing about Sinner."
Henman also spoke about how many Grand Slams Alcaraz could win. The Briton remembers how difficult he thought breaking Pete Sampras' 14 major titles would be, which Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Djokovic have all done.
While Henman expects Alcaraz to keep being successful, he was not willing to predict the Spaniard would break Djokovic's record of 24 Grand Slams. Instead, he encouraged the former world No. 1 to focus on taking one step at a time.
"Other players will start winning majors as well and there is no doubt that what we have seen from Djokovic, Nadal and Federer has raised the bar of expectations. When I was playing and Pete Sampras won his 14th major, I would have said there is no chance anyone is going past that total for the foreseeable future."
"Now we have had three guys who have comfortably moved past his total, so you never know what is coming next. Alcaraz has spoken about getting to double digits in Grand Slams, so it’s all about one step at a time before we think about anyone challenging Djokovic’s record of 24."
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