What Carlos Alcaraz is doing is impressive. He arrives at the clay court season full of criticism: the old Djokovic knocked him out of Australia, he lost to Draper in Indian Wells, and he disappointed in Miami with a defeat to David Goffin.
How did he respond? His first trophy in Monte Carlo, the final in Barcelona and an impeccable title in Rome. He crushed Jannik Sinner in the final, beating his arch-rival 6-1 in front of his home crowd. He is now the clear favourite to become a two-time champion at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz is already proving that when he thinks and plays intelligently, he is the world number one. In Rome, it was pure intelligence: he made no mistakes and played to make the Italian make them. He took advantage of his lack of competition and the pressure of playing at home.
On the circuit, they say that when a tennis player beats another three times in a row, he becomes his father. And that’s four wins in a row now. Alcaraz has Sinner as his son. 7-4 to the reigning champion in Paris.
There are games that clash, and Sinner clearly doesn’t like Alcaraz’s game. It’s a nice rivalry because the Spaniard has a wider technical repertoire. Sinner, on the other hand, has physical and mental advantages, but he paid dearly for three months without tennis. I think there’s a big difference between the two of them and the rest of the players.
Some of his colleagues criticised Alcaraz for his Netflix documentary, where he confesses that he needs to live life to be happy on and off the court. Time with friends, parties in Ibiza. Things that twenty-somethings do. Can he be the best ever, as he says he wants to be, while leading a ‘normal’ life?
‘I think top-level tennis demands a lot. I don’t think Carlos is going to win Grand Slams by going to bed at 7 a.m.”
The quote is from Alcaraz’s compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut.
It’s impossible not to compare. If I look back at the 1970s, I see two realities. Guillermo Vilas was obsessed and lived for tennis; Bjorn Borg opted for a more varied life, which cost him his tennis career at the age of 26. He later regretted it and wanted to return, but the train had already left the station. Although it is clear that Borg achieved much more than Vilas in terms of results.
I think that Carlos Alcaraz’s desire to be a normal guy is going to hurt him in the future. He needs to be careful at night. Because even though he doesn’t go out partying during tournaments like Nick Kyrgios or Marcelo Ríos did, the night still takes its toll when you have to train the next day.
Not sleeping nine hours a day gives you an advantage. He may not pay for it now, but he may pay for it in the future. That’s also why injuries happen, because the body takes its toll. That brings me back to Sinner. He has a better body than Alcaraz. And he’s not as drawn to partying as his rival is.
Alcaraz is 22 years old and has four Grand Slams. He needs 21 more major titles to achieve his goal. He needs 15 years of glory, lifting three Grand Slam trophies on average every two years, with Sinner and a few others there trying to prevent him. Will there be room for partying and doing things his way?
