"It took Djokovic 27 majors to win his third": Mark Petchey believes expectations for Carlos Alcaraz should slow down after Australian Open loss

Having become World No.1 and winning multiple Grand Slam titles, the expectations continue to be there for Carlos Alcaraz, but tennis coach and commentator Mark Petchey believes that they should be tempered and that people fail to realise a few facets to putting so much pressure on the 20-year-old.

Petchey noted that despite Novak Djokovic's excellence now and him being the GOAT, his path to greatness wasn't as smooth as perhaps his titles suggest and that Alcaraz has to navigate not only his sporting success but also being a 20-year-old that isn't a normal 20-year-old.

"Last night was a learning curve. He's on a massive learning curve. He's 20 years old, he's been the youngest ever World No.1. He's thrust into the spotlight. He has a life to live away from the lens as well. He's got to figure himself out, how many 20-year-olds even know what that looks like let alone trying to do a professional sporting job at an elite level around all that. This was his 12th major, I think people have lost perspective. It took Novak 27 majors to win his third. He is now the greatest of all time numerically. There is no problem for Carlos," said Petchey to Stan Sport.
"There's part of me as an entertainer on the court that I don't want him to change massively. Last night became what it became because of Carlos, I understand that this is a results based industry and he's going to get judged on how many majors he's going to win and everything else but there is a little part of me as a tennis coach that wants Carlos to stay the same."
"He may not win as many as the Big Three, but he's going to leave an image that we had with those 15,000 fans that were there last night and they were all talking about how great that contest was."