Author of a sensational arrival on the professional circuit, Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest world number 1 in history and already winner of two Grand Slam titles, has completely changed what most observers anticipated concerning the state of tennis in coming years.
This is notably the subject of the magnificent article written by our American colleague, Brian Phillips, in the columns of The Ringer. An article in which he notably evokes the immense generational gap which separates the Spanish prodigy from the Big 3 represented by the inevitable Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“I’m afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of horror movies. I am afraid of ferocious animals. This is a list of childhood fears, or someone who was so recently a child that they haven’t had time to develop adult fears yet. In your opinion, how long could Federer, Nadal or Djokovic have been able to plausibly claim to be afraid to turn off the light? Tennis players tend to be superstitious – when changing sides, for example, Alcaraz always takes a bite of his energy bar before a bite of his banana, and he always bounces the ball exactly five times before serving – but it’s hard to imagine Djokovic, when the light goes out inside his cryogenic or other helium capsule, feeling surrounded by monsters rising out of nowhere. Federer was more than twice Alcaraz’s current age when he retired last year at 41. Both Nadal and Djokovic are approaching 40. These men are afraid of European tax laws, male pattern baldness, a crisis involving their children and the inevitable approach of death. »
Published on Sunday, September 3, 2023 at 8:45 PM
2023-09-04 00:13:59
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