Alcaraz backed to get 'very close' to Djokovic slam record

By Sports Desk July 19, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz "can do everything" and could get "very close" to Novak Djokovic's record of 24 grand slam titles, having denied the tennis great his 25th at Wimbledon.

That is according to Vasek Pospisil, who believes "all the signs" point towards Alcaraz having a career to compare with Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the All England Club final to win his fourth major at the age of just 21.

He is still 20 titles short of his opponent, who holds the men's record and has matched Margaret Court's all-time singles benchmark.

But former Wimbledon doubles champion Pospisil, speaking to Stats Perform as the co-founder of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), believes that gap can quickly close.

Pospisil said: "We can't see into the future, but the fact that he's just 21 and he already has four grand slams...

"You put things into perspective: Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray both have three each, if I'm not mistaken. He already has one more, and he's 21.

"So, for sure, unless he gets injured or unlucky or something out of his control pops up, all the signs are there that he'll be very close to those records if he keeps on the track that he's going, if not break them.

"I mean, we never know, right? Obviously at this stage, time will tell. But these grand slams can tally up pretty quickly.

"Just two years ago, he won his first one, and he's already got four. We just barely even blinked, and he has four slams already.

"So, it'll be interesting to see where he's at in five or six years. He'll be just really entering his prime and he may have 10, 11, 12 grand slams in five years."

Djokovic did not win his fourth major until he was 24, while Federer was 23.

Of the three all-time greats, Nadal was the youngest to that mark, with a fourth successive French Open title coming days after his 22nd birthday.

And it is a young Nadal, another Spaniard, who Pospisil sees in Alcaraz, although the Wimbledon champion might even have a more complete game.

"He brings a similar kind of intensity that Nadal did when he burst onto the scene," Pospisil told Stats Perform.

"It was something that we weren't really used to seeing, someone playing with that kind of force and energy in every shot that he hit, so Alcaraz brings some of that to the table.

"But then he is also just hitting through the court a little bit more. Rafa was a little bit more passive and then started being more aggressive as he got older.

"Alcaraz, right from the get-go, he's really just using that athleticism and power to really put a lot of pressure on players. He can do everything. He's a full-court, all-court player.

"You see he's already won at least one grand slam per surface, so he's clearly extremely versatile."

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