Boris Becker acknowledges Carlos Alcaraz is “a full package” but also warns the 19-year-old that taking the mantle from the Big Three is not as easy as it might seem. Alcaraz, who will be turning 20 in May, has a Grand Slam title, three Masters titles, and he also became the youngest world No 1 and the youngest Year-End No 1.
Just like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz started achieving major things at a very young age. But Becker warns Alcaraz that the Big Three became more than just great tennis players.
Becker on Alcaraz: Full package but taking the mantle is not easy
“First of all, it’s a very difficult mantle to take over.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic weren’t only tennis heroes, they are sporting heroes. They are cultural icons. You talk about the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz as the next hot thing. He’s amazing, he plays great, he looks good and has the full package as a tennis superstar.
But there’s a lot more to it than playing tennis. You have to come back, you have to defend your titles, you become a representative of your country and you’re getting into boxes you didn’t think existed before.
We have to be careful. Nobody is perfect and we have to watch that these tennis players are people. And people make mistakes,” Becker said at CloudFest, per Tennis Majors. So far, Alcaraz has been dealing with all the expectations and pressure placed on him.
In a recent interview with Tennis Majors, coach Juan Carlos Ferrero admitted that “the new Nadal talk was very heavy on Alcaraz’s back.” Last year, Nadal told the media that if they wanted good for Alcaraz, they needed to stop constantly comparing them because it was just putting unnecessary pressure on the 19-year-old. Meanwhile, both Alcaraz and Nadal are out of the upcoming Monte Carlo Masters.
