Former doubles world number one Australia’s Paul McNamee
believes that it would take Spain’s young sensation
Carlos Alcaraz 20 years to
match what Serbia’s legendary tennis star
Novak Djokovic has achieved in his
career. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best men’s tennis players in the singles category, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Djokovic.
Alcaraz, despite being so young, is already being tipped for
greatness along with Sinner. Many pundits believe that the Spaniard has the
talent to become one of the greatest players of all time. However, former Australian
tennis player and doubles world number one McNamee believes that it would
take as much as two decades for the current world number three to match what
Djokovic has achieved in his career.
“It will take 20 years for someone like Alcaraz to break
Novak’s Grand Slam record – it’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely,” he said. “So,
in twenty years, Novak will be talked about as the greatest of all time. Forget
all personal affinities, his biography is the greatest. Personally, I never
called him the greatest until the Olympics, I said that everyone should finish
their careers first, but the gold at the Olympics cemented Novak’s status
already now. An enormous success, not only because of the gold, but also the
way he got it – he played a fantastic match against an outstanding tennis
player like Alcaraz.”
Djokovic is regarded by many as the greatest player in the
history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as
many as 24 Grand Slam titles. The Belgrade-born needs to win one more major in
his career to become the first player ever, both in men’s and women’s tennis, in
the history of tennis in the Open era to win 25 Grand Slam titles. On the other
hand, Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slams in his career. He won two major
titles this year as well.