It’s official now – Prince Carlos Alcaraz is the new King of tennis, the torch has been passed from Novak Djokovic.
Carlos defeated the ten-time AO champion in four sets and at age 22 became the youngest man to win the career Grand Slam, US Open, Wimbledon, French Open and now AO.
Djokovic full approves the man who has taken his throne by force, respect and an arsenal of weapons which appear impossible to stop at the moment. The sensational Spaniard has not even completely matured as a player and his peak performance may still be a decade ahead in the future.
Perhaps Djokovic respects and adores Carlos too much and he does not have that extra incentive to knock him off, motivational inspirations we all know he was fueled by to conquer Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Every time we see Djokovic and Carlos together it seems like there is absolutely nothing they dislike in each other.
Still the tennis they play is spectacular and stunning despite the sixteen year age and experience gap.
This final defeat by Djokovic may have deflated his self belief as he did not commit to promise to try to play AO in 2027, noting that he has no idea what God has in store for him next week, six months or a year in the future. There was a subconscious sense that the mighty Djokovic may not play again in Australia.
Deep down Djokovic knows he got the perfect draw set up, with the default wins over Mensik and Musetti and he could still not capitalize on that advantage. Would he have been able to beat Sinner if he had to play both Mensik and Musetti for three more sets? Very unlikely.
The luck was on his side this week but Carlos was just too strong. And he will only get stronger and better.
The big three was narrowed down to the Greatest of All Time Novak Djokovic and now the tennis crown is worn by the new King Carlos. Where the evolution of the sport progresses to next is anybody’s guess.
Ted Dimond artwork.
AO · Carlos Alcaraz · Novak Djokovic