Is Carlos Alcaraz the new master of Wimbledon?
What if, just as Paris Saint-Germain seems to be ushering football into a new era, Carlos Alcaraz is doing the same with tennis? The Spaniard, who faces world number one Jannik Sinner on Sunday, July 13, in the Wimbledon final, is on a winning streak of 24 straight wins. He has won successively in Rome, Roland-Garros, and at Queen's. Not bad for a player some considered inconsistent.
Beyond this string of successes, it is the frightening level of play reached by the Murcian during the fortnight in London that is striking. However, Carlos Alcaraz does not systematically crush his opponents. Arthur Fils came close to beating him in Monte Carlo, as did Jaume Munar at the Queen's Club, and Fabio Fognini pushed him to the fifth set in the first round of Wimbledon. Against the 38-year-old Italian, who had fallen to 138th in the world rankings, Alcaraz became angry. "He has the level to play until he is 50!" the Spaniard said to his team in the fourth set, before raising his voice and concluding the match with a stinging 6-1.
Overconfidence? Lapse in concentration? "He's less consistent than Jannik Sinner, but when the level rises in a Grand Slam, he always responds," notes Arnaud Clément, former world number 10, consultant for Eurosport. Juan Carlos Ferrero's protégé is a man for the big events: he has five Grand Slam victories in as many finals. His early career places him on par with the most precocious players in history: Rafael Nadal, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe. If he wins a sixth Major on Sunday, he will become the equal of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, at just 22 years old.
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Le Monde