‘Carlos Alcaraz is going to win all the Grand Slams on all surfaces, even the Masters’
Carlos Alcaraz is “destined to be one of the special ones” with tennis pundit Alex Corretja backing him to “win all the titles practically possible”, including a Career Grand Slam.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz is coming off another fine season as he won Wimbledon in July to go with his the US Open trophy he lifted in September 2022.
The Spaniard won six titles in total – including two ATP Masters 1000 trophies – and finished the year at No 2 in the ATP Rankings with only Novak Djokovic ahead of him.
However, Alcaraz did have a few blips this campaign as he notoriously succumbed to defeat against Djokovic in the Roland Garros semi-final as he struggled with cramps and the pressure while he also had a dip in form during the final few months of the tennis year.
But there is no doubt in Corretja’s mind that Alcaraz will return to his best in 2024 and the two-time Grand Slam runner-up believes winning Roland Garros will be one of the rising stars’s big goals for the year.
“To me, winning a Grand Slam would make it a very good season,” he said on Eurosport. “I think that this year, for example, Roland Garros is going to be a very big goal for him.
“After what happened last year [cramps against Djokovic], I think he will manage it differently. He will have less anxiety and he’ll be wanting to get to Paris to win, because he knows that it is a very long Grand Slam.”
Alcaraz is already halfway to a Career Grand Slam with only Roland Garros and the Australian Open missing from his impressive CV.
Corretja is tipping him to dominate the big events in the coming years.
The Spaniard added: “I’ve said it a long time ago, I think Alcaraz is going to win all the Grand Slams on all surfaces, even the Masters.
“I think he is going to be a player who is going to win all the titles practically possible and it is because of the way he plays, his ambition, and his character.
“I think his tennis is very high. So it seems to me that Alcaraz is destined to be one of the special ones.”
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Up next on the calendar for Alcaraz is the 2024 Australian Open. The rising star missed this year’s edition due to injury while he reached the second round on his debut in 2021 and the third round the following year.
But Corretja believes Melbourne Park could be the “perfect” setting for his compatriot at the start of the year.
“I think the Australian Open is a perfect fit for Alcaraz because of the conditions, because of the way the ball bounces, because it can be hot, because of night sessions where there is a kind of atmosphere that’s dramatic,” he said.
“Everything becomes spectacular and he likes that. It’s a little bit like the night session in New York. I think if he arrives well and with some preparation matches it’s going to be perfect.
“He can play a very good Australian Open and he will be eager as an opportunity to seize knowing he didn’t play last year, the last time he played there, he ended up losing a very close match.”
