Carlos Alcaraz is the complete package, and has showcased that with a recent period of improbable dominance.
Capitalising on the absence of Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard carved through the clay-court season with a handful of finals, most of which resulted in titles.
However, even when his generation rival returned to action, both in Rome and Roland Garros, he was powerless to stop Alcaraz from maintaining his miraculous form in the final of both events.
What’s scary is that, despite heading straight for Ibiza after that French Open triumph to celebrate, he returned to win Queen’s with minimal fuss too.
It’s arguable that, at present, he has no weakness. Especially after he plugged the only one of note during last week.
What Rafael Nadal said about Carlos Alcaraz in 2021
It seems that, whilst the tennis world scampered to find a weakness to exploit in Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal had already told them back in 2021.
Speaking at a press conference after he had beaten his young compatriot in Madrid, he admitted: ‘Yeah, when somebody at his age is able to do the things that he’s doing is because you have something special, no? And at the same time, he’s humble enough to keep working. He’s passionate about the game. So I really believe that he gonna be able to burn cycles very soon, very fast.
‘I really believe that he’s a complete player. I mean, he’s brave, he’s able to go to the net very often. Great forehand, great backhand.
‘Of course, he needs to improve a little bit the serve, but he’s just 18 today, so he has plenty of time. As I said, he’s humble enough and he’s a hard worker, so I don’t have a doubt that he will do it, no? His movement is great.
‘I mean, when you make a salad and you are putting ingredients inside the salad, he has, I mean, plenty of ingredients to become a great player. That’s the main thing. Then, of course, nothing is easy. You’re gonna have big opponents in front. I mean, nothing is easy in this life. Being one of the best players in the world and fighting for the most important titles is something very difficult, but I really believe that he’s one of the guys that he can do it.’
Ironically, one pundit suggested that Alcaraz had copied Nadal’s serve technique over the last week which has spurred on these huge improvements.
Can Carlos Alcaraz emulate Rafael Nadal?
As Nadal’s career began to wind down, it feels like people’s appreciation for what he had accomplished across the last two decades grew.
They understood that not just anybody wins 22 Grand Slam titles, and nobody in history achieves domination at one event as he did with his 14 titles at Roland Garros.
A true legend of the sport, and one of the greatest in its history, he has inspired generations upon generations with his work rate, talent and tenacity.
However, tennis is cyclical, and it’s almost mind-blowing how soon after Nadal’s decline that Alcaraz began to ascend.
Already, at just 22 years old, this young Spaniard has five Grand Slam titles, two of which came in Paris. He will likely never come close to Nadal’s Roland Garros tally, but that record of 22 Grand Slam successes is well within Alcaraz’s sights.
If he maintains his current trajectory, there’s no reason why he cannot surpass both Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s records. However, there’s still so much time before that could possibly occur.
