By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday July 14, 2024
Nearly as impressive as Carlos Alcaraz’s most recent Grand Slam triumph is his hunger to stay humble and to continue on the path that he has always been on. The path of a striver, one who is never satisfied, and one who continuously seeks to improve his game, regardless of what he has already achieved.
He made that much clear on Sunday after his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Novak Djokovic on Centre Court, stating clearly his main goal for the future.
“At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys,” Alcaraz said. “That's my main goal. That's my dream right now. It doesn't matter if I already won four Grand Slams at the age of 21. If [I don't] keep going, all these tournaments for me, it doesn't matter. I really want to keep going. I will try to keep winning and end my career with a lot of them.”
Alcaraz, who became the youngest male player to win Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same season on Sunday, doesn’t want to rest on his laurels, and he also made that known.
“Obviously I've seen and I've heard all the stats that I am the youngest to win at Roland Garros and Wimbledon the same year,” Alcaraz said. “I honestly try not to think about it too much. Obviously it's a really great start of my career, but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my path.”
At this point of his career, the 21-year-old has smashed enough records to make one’s head spin. Already the youngest World No.1 in history, Alcaraz became the youngest player in history to win a Grand Slam title on all three surfaces when he defeated Alexander in five sets to claim his maiden Roland-Garros title last month.
This week at Wimbledon the Spaniard decimated 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in the final to become the youngest player to ever win the Roland-Garros and Wimbledon titles in the same season and just the ninth to do it in the Open Era.
We could go on and on listing the 21-year-old’s accomplishments, but he’d prefer to look forward, not back.
“Everything we have done already has been unbelievable, an amazing journey so far,” he said. “As I said, I really want to keep going, to keep improving, to keep growing up, try to keep winning. That's all that matters for me right now.”
When asked how many Grand Slams would be a satisfactory amount to hold by the end of his career, Alcaraz didn’t want to place any restrictions on what is possible.
Best to keep it wide open, just like his future.
“I don't know what my limit is,” he said. “I don't want to think about it. I just want to keep enjoying my moment, just to keep dreaming. So let's see if at the end of my career it's going to be 25, 30, 15, four. I don't know.”