General News

Carlos Alcaraz is no Boris Becker and this is more significant than Federer beating Sampras

July 17, 2023

This Michael Jordan story dates back to a time when an aging Magic Johnson was still basketball’s undisputed goat. This predates the 1992 Olympic camp, where the Dream Team was split into two for practice games. What was supposed to be a routine morning workout turned into a big ego clash where no one gave an inch. Jordan was in rhythm that day, his electric play reminding Johnson that he’s not exactly unbeatable.

After the game, as Johnson sat down with another veteran, Larry Bird, Jordan lunged at the two veterans. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” he said with a hidden smile. Laughing hoarsely, Johnson told Byrd: “He ain’t lying”.

It’s been called an epic moment of power change in basketball, as it happened at Wimbledon on Sunday when Carlos Alcaraz defeated tennis’s reigning GOAT, 23-Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic. The 20-year-old from El Palmar, a Spanish village famous for its tall palm trees, made a grand announcement from the famed grass court that there’s a new sheriff in town and he’s not lying.

power, ambition

There were also those who saw in him 17-year-old Boris Becker. As in the 1985 final, this too was a display of the brute strength and daring ambition of youngsters defying the odds. Others at Wimbledon were reminded of the historic change-of-guard fourth-round match in 2001 when Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras.

However, this was different. Baker was a 17-year-old novice, Alcaraz entered Wimbledon as the world No. 1 and was defending the US Open. It was easy for Federer as Sampras was at his peak. Alcaraz faced the best tennis player at the height of his skill. This is not the end of an era but the beginning of a new era. This was the beginning of an all-court rivalry.

Men’s tennis has been waiting a long time for real talents to emerge. Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer have called out many challengers and made them look like cheaters. But Wimbledon 2023 will be remembered for the Grand Slam tennis found a youngster who was ‘the real deal’, with the potential to shake the foundations of the Old Firm.

Alcaraz won the US Open but it was a tournament that Djokovic missed. Late in the evening, in the presence of commoners and royals, Alcaraz won a slam that had no asterisks. It was the kind of new dawn the ATP suits had been praying for for years. The loss would land Djokovic in a row that would be music to the sport’s marketers. He said, “I thought that you would be difficult to beat on clay and hard courts, but you showed that you are difficult to beat on grass as well.”

With Federer retired and Nadal on the brink of retirement, it looked like Djokovic would have a free hand. This epic five-setter proved that, regardless of the surface, the draw would always have Alcaraz having all the answers.

Whatever ploy the Serb tried on Sunday, Alcaraz had an answer. Djokovic started brilliantly but could not carry on. He tried to slow down the pace of the match by taking his time between shots but that did not deter the youngsters. The old hand increased the pace of his shots and went to the lines that were not working. Alcaraz matched him shot by shot, volley by volley, serve by serve.

When Djokovic took a long break at the end of the third set, it looked like he would come back refreshed and run away with the match. He had done this before against the best players in the world. He almost made a comeback by winning the fourth set. However, in the 5th, Alcaraz showed that he is not one to crack under pressure. His brain was not faded,

Even under pressure, he delivered precise ground strikes that were fierce and deep. His service remained constant. Once in the dying moments of a deciding set, he played a captivating drop shot and followed it up with a lob that Djokovic saw over his head. The match was far from over at that point, but the crucial moment was when the defending champion realized that the new sheriff had checked in.