Men's tennis on cusp of new era ? Future of Djokovic & Alcaraz

 

Is the  world tennis  now all set to start the new era ?  It is inevitable that the era of the big three who captivated the drawing rooms across the world for a decade and a half is gradually coming to an end .  The word " gradually" is used here as  the youngest of the big three is still having an imposing presence in the world tennis circuit despite his loss in an epic final in the latest grand slam event . 

20 year old prodigy Carlos Alcaraz has proved that he is destined to be one of the greatest of all time . Of course that tag comes after a long term success but in his case , the all round versatility that he has shown in a years time on different surfaces , unless he is laid low by frequent injuries or any other god forbid  unforeseen events,  it can be predicted that he is well on the path to achieve greatness .

That Alcaraz vs Djokovic Wimbledon final was a classic . Alcaraz was widely expected to win Wimbledon maybe within the next two years but not so much this year.  However he proved everyone wrong by grasping the nuances of grass court play in such a short period which proves that he is a special talent . We saw him achieve all the possible parameters with flying colours in the final because facing Djokovic and beating him at centre court ( where Novak did not lose in last 10 years ) was his ultimate test . 

After being demolished in set one , Alcaraz composed himself admirably to face the acid test . He served beautifully with pace & precision , was hitting fierce  returns at relentless regularity both off forehand & backhand  with astounding court coverage,  played delightful drop shots & volleys coming to the net that works at Wimbledon,  showed great all round skills  and showed tremendous mental strength whenever he was challenged to the extreme by Djokovic . It was a complete performance that even forced the great champion Djokovic to acknowledge after the game , the all round versatility of Alcaraz .

Djokovic said :

"I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself.

I would agree with that. I think he's got basically best of all three worlds. He's got this mental resilience and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old. It's quite impressive. He's got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we've seen with Rafa over the years. And I think he's got some nice sliding backhands that he's got some similarities with my backhands. Yeah, two-handed backhands, defense, being able to adapt. I think that has been my personal strength for many years. He has it, too.

I haven't played a player like him ever, to be honest. Roger and Rafa have their own obviously strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is very complete player. Amazing adapting capabilities that I think are a key for longevity and for successful career on all surfaces,"

Djokovic was absolutely right in his assessment

If we briefly get into the respective skills of the big 3 , starting with Roger  Federer,  we find that Roger had an excellent serve , accurate and deceptive and of course he had a killer forehand which had power and precision and able to find acute angles with sparkling shots  . His backhand was not the strongest but he developed it well through the course of his career .His net play was the best of all three , outstanding with his volleys and no wonder he won 8 Wimbledons . Mental strength & great temperament was of course there  as he won 20 Grand slams . He was good in all surfaces , though clay was considered his least productive but he still won 2 French Opens . In short Roger was a classy player , great champion & great to watch 

Rafael Nadal was the master of clay courts . His game was not best suited for grass but he still won 2 Wimbledons . His game was very physical that affected his  later years with injury niggles . His left hand serve is ominous , he is very deceptive and precise.  His forehand is another devastating weapon like Federer . It has speed , power and precision .His backhand is equally good as he is able to hit them at difficult angles from the base line . He is not renouned for his net play but is by no means mediocre , in fact it is really good . He had great reserves of  mental strength and can extract big matches out of difficult situations . Extremely good on clay and hard courts his 22 Grand Slams and 14 French Opens are a testament to his greatness .  Currently recovering from injuries , Nadal intends to make 2024 his farewell year .

Novak Djokovic , who arrived after Federer and almost along with Nadal had to work really hard to get to the level of his two illustrious contemporaries. His service ,which was earlier inferior to Federer and Nadal ,  improved as he matured into the game and in more recent years has been precise and accurate . His forehand is extremely accurate which can find acute angles  . His backhand is high quality with power and precision and he can reel off winners with ease . He is the greatest all time returner of serve and has the best defence across eras which makes him very formidable. His drop shots &  net play improved with passage of time he is very skillful at it . His ability to hit sliding returns and his outstanding court coverage at electric speed makes him an outstanding player . Above all his mental strength is second to none and no one can be guaranteed a win over Djokovic even after he is leading by 2-0 sets in a best of 5 setter as Novak has won many 5 setters after 0-2 deficit.  His ability to raise his levels when under pressure is second to none and he also has his ability to withstand injuries and win big events like he did at Australia Open in 2023 with a hamstring issue. Djokovic is the only player to have won a grand slam major at least 3 times and he still looks good enough to add to his current world record  23 slams .  

At 36 it is expected that Djokovic might be at his best for 1-2 years more . He has kept his fitness at excellent  levels .  He already has two grand  slams this year and in fact is playing much better than last year . Hence he is not finished by any means .

Alcaraz , as Djokovic mentioned has all the best attributes of the big three . Brilliant server like Federer and Nadal, scorching forehand & backhand returns , astonishing court coverage and mental strength like Djokovic and very skillful and crafty in net play and from baseline. Alcaraz's ability to return anything at relentless regularity puts a lot of pressure on his opponents as Djokovic himself found out in the Wimbledon final.  Alcaraz is definitely destined for greatness .

It remains to be seen whether his same age group talents like Sinner, Runn, Rudd,  Tofoe etc can raise their levels soon but as of now there is a clear gulf between Alcaraz and  these players as well as seniors like Medvedev, Zeverev etc .

In fact it is Djokovic only who can challenge and possibly  beat Alcaraz as he showed at Wimbledon  final . 36 year old Djokovic is still playing awesome tennis  and we may see a great rivalry albeit for a brief period between these two outstanding tennis players during the next one to two years depending on how long Djokovic can hold on to his fitness levels and how long he is willing to compete at the highest level   .

Revive the highlights of the Wimbledon 2023 final below :