Alcaraz makes strong case for being the best young male player tennis has seen | Tumaini Carayol

Beating Djokovic to win a career grand slam at 22 has confirmed the world No1 is on a unique path and justified his decision to jettison long-time coach

There were many topics that could have rushed into Carlos Alcaraz’s mind in the delirium that followed his attainment of a goal he has chased his entire life, the career grand slam achieved by defeating Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. He could have thought about the immense hard work and discipline it took to achieve all of this, or his comically large, tight-knit team and family that faithfully follows him around the world, or even how close he came to losing it all during his semi-final match two days earlier.

Instead, as Alcaraz navigated the long line of post-slam media interviews for the seventh time in his career while tightly holding the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, his thoughts cast back to … his haters: “To be honest, I’m now thinking about the people who said I wouldn’t make it, who thought I’d come here to Australia and not even make it past the quarter-finals,” said Alcaraz in Spanish to Eurosport Spain. “That I’d come here to Australia and not play good tennis. Those who didn’t believe in me. I remember those people, honestly. It seems ironic that when I should be thinking about my people, my team, all the work we’ve put in, in the end that’s the thought that came to me now.” Continue reading...