Carlos Alcaraz is already a tennis ‘legend’ according to Novak Djokovic, whom the Spaniard defeated in the Australian Open final on Sunday.
Alcaraz became the youngest player in Men’s Singles history to complete the Career Grand Slam, surpassing Rafael Nadal in the process.
Alcaraz has also won seven Grand Slams before the age of 23: more than any other male player has in tennis history.
The Spaniard – who John McEnroe named as his favourite player – seems destined to be included in future ‘greatest of all time’ discussions alongside Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Do you believe Carlos Alcaraz is already the greatest tennis player of all time?
However, one thing must occur for the Spaniard to be involved in those discussions.
Carlos Alcaraz must have a third superstar-level challenger to be considered the greatest player in history
How many Grand Slams would Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won had Novak Djokovic not become the player he is? It is likely that Nadal and Federer would have won 30 Grand Slams each had Djokovic not featured on the tennis circuit.
Novak Djokovic is widely considered to be the greatest of all time, largely because he won so much while competing against the second and third best players in men’s tennis history.
Carlos Alcaraz simply does not have the same level of competition that Djokovic did during the majority of his career.
As things currently stand, Alcaraz has one future all-time great as his main rival on the Tour: that person being Jannik Sinner.
However, another superstar is yet to emerge.
Of course, Novak Djokovic could be considered as that second challenger. However, despite reaching the Australian Open final, Novak is not at the level he was a decade ago and is unlikely to spend many more years competing on the Tour.
Two players who could fill this superstar void are Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, both of whom have demonstrated remarkable progress on Tour over the past year.
However, until another superstar emerges, Alcaraz cannot be considered the greatest.
Can Carlos Alcaraz win MORE Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic? 🤔
Carlos Alcaraz’s next tournament
After withdrawing from the Rotterdam Open on Monday, Carlos Alcaraz’s next tournament is set to be the Qatar Open.
The tournament, held in Doha from February 16 to 21, was last won by Andrey Rublev, who defeated Jack Draper in the final.
This year’s tournament is set to feature a host of tennis stars. Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev are all on the tournament’s entry list.
Alcaraz will hope to improve upon his performance at the 2025 Qatar Open. In last year’s event, the Spaniard defeated Marin Cilic and Luca Nardi, before losing to Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals.
