Wilander claims Carlos will eclipse the Big Three

[mental midget]

I stand by my previous prediction that Alcaraz wins between 4 to 8 slams and that it will be a long time before the sport has another double-digit slam winner. I think this applies to both the ATP and WTA.

interesting. i could see that. alcaraz has an incredible game but man it really does look like he's redlining to do it, different even than how nadal looked in his early days. who knows, but yeah...double digit slams means a lot of things have to go right no matter how good you are.

 

[Rosstour]

It isn't that ridiculous of a claim.

If Carlos can stay healthy and truly fulfill his ATG potential, he will have by far the weakest era of all time staring him in the face. Now… I don't think Carlos is as good as he's hyped to be and his athleticism is a huge component to his success, so it will be hard to project his career long-term. But he will have the chance to dominate an era if he does truly turn out to be great

The era COULD be weak but it might turn out not to be.

We could see a time of tremendous parity where Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner, FAA, Shapo, Musetti, Tsitsipas and Zverev are in contention for every big title.

 

[Kralingen]

The era COULD be weak but it might turn out not to be.

We could see a time of tremendous parity where Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner, FAA, Shapo, Musetti, Tsitsipas and Zverev are in contention for every big title.

That would be awesome but I still feel if you put 21 year old Andy Murray in this era he’d put up 20 Slams

 

[Rosstour]

That would be awesome but I still feel if you put 21 year old Andy Murray in this era he’d put up 20 Slams

Murray is an ATG

These guys aren't yet...not sure which of them will be in the final estimation

 

[Cabeza del Demonio]

As always, Mats and McEnroe make ridiculous statements prior to a slam. This one is insane:

"Single most important player we have ever had,” Carlos Alcaraz put ahead of the Big-3 by Mats Wilander

The former Swedish star has made a big claim when it comes to the World Number 1

Former World Number 1 Mats Wilander has claimed that Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz could overtake the legacies of the Big 3 of tennis and become the “the single most important player we have ever had” in the sport. The experienced pundit believes the playing style of the 19-year-old brings about a reaction from the crowd he describes as the most exciting he has seen.

Wilander is enamored with the Spaniard’s style. He called the World No. 1’s US Open to win the most exciting tournament he has seen in his 20+ years of working in the media.

He believes that Alcaraz’s range of shots, work ethic, and speed make him compelling to watch.

Wilander said,” Here you have a guy who is trying so hard, he is so fast, he is playing with so many different shots, and he’s serving and volleying at 15-30. He’s 19 years old! He’s hitting drop shots at 15-30, he’s 19 years old! Then he dives, and at the end of it, he’s smiling and he’s laughing.”

https://firstsportz.com/tennis-news-carlos-alcaraz-put-ahead-of-the-big-3-by-mats-wilander/

Hate this so much. The Big 3 have raised the bar so high we can't enjoy great players anymore.

Remember, John McEnroe won 7 grand Slams. That's 1/3 of Djokovic's title haul, but J-Mac is remembered as a legend nonetheless.

When we say guys like Carlitos are "destined for greatness" we've gotta remember what greatness looks like for mortals.

 

[Razer]

That would be awesome but I still feel if you put 21 year old Andy Murray in this era he’d put up 20 Slams

You cannot pluck 21 year old Murray from 2008 and put him in 2023, this is not how evolution works. Murray would have to be born 15 years later to be 21 today and this would mean he too is growing up under the influence of smartphones and social media. He might be another Zverev for all we know, lets face it, Murray isn't mentally all that strong to begin with, so with all these distractions he would be a much worse player productively. Players are products of their own eras, we can blame 90s gen all we want but they were products of their time.

 

[JoshDragon]

As always, Mats and McEnroe make ridiculous statements prior to a slam. This one is insane:

"Single most important player we have ever had,” Carlos Alcaraz put ahead of the Big-3 by Mats Wilander

The former Swedish star has made a big claim when it comes to the World Number 1

Former World Number 1 Mats Wilander has claimed that Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz could overtake the legacies of the Big 3 of tennis and become the “the single most important player we have ever had” in the sport. The experienced pundit believes the playing style of the 19-year-old brings about a reaction from the crowd he describes as the most exciting he has seen.

Wilander is enamored with the Spaniard’s style. He called the World No. 1’s US Open to win the most exciting tournament he has seen in his 20+ years of working in the media.

He believes that Alcaraz’s range of shots, work ethic, and speed make him compelling to watch.

Wilander said,” Here you have a guy who is trying so hard, he is so fast, he is playing with so many different shots, and he’s serving and volleying at 15-30. He’s 19 years old! He’s hitting drop shots at 15-30, he’s 19 years old! Then he dives, and at the end of it, he’s smiling and he’s laughing.”

https://firstsportz.com/tennis-news-carlos-alcaraz-put-ahead-of-the-big-3-by-mats-wilander/

I'll tell you what, if Carlos Alcaraz surpasses the Big 3 in terms of the slam count, then tennis is a fixed game.

 

[Spencer Gore]

It's a case of recency bias. I remember the same thing being said about Borg, Becker, Agassi and Federer. Whenever someone young comes along who shakes up the status quo the hype machine is fired up. But sometimes the hype machine is correct.

 

[Incognito]

Holgar will make Carlos his pigeon....... it will be a Federer - Hewitt situation ...... who matured 2-3 years earlier won't matter when it is all said and done.

You know what Hewitt didnt have? The greatest and most devastating forehand of his generation.

 

[mika1979]

That's different that claiming Carlos will become the most important tennis player ever. Djokovic has 1 more slam than Fed but almost no one would ever claim outside of Serbia that he's the most important player in the history of tennis.

What Wilander said is idiotic.

Stones are better

 

[tennis3]

Ask Mats about his career when he was a young prodigy. Reached #1 in the world and said it was more interesting to go out
and mow the lawn

What brand of lawn mower did he have?

 

[Terenigma]

Wilander should disappear forever. He's about as relevant in current tennis knowledge as wooden racquets.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

everybody's going mcenroe today, with their daily random goat statements, depending on the weather and/or the color of their underwear

mats was one of the firsts to go mac, though... who's gonna be his next goat? take a guess!

 

[alexio]

really sad he said that, which means it wont happen

 

[thrust]

I wish I was paid a lot of money just to say the most outlandish things.

Not really that outlandish. Carlos may be lucky that Nadal, Novak and Roger are old, but he is the most all court accomplished 19-year-old player I recall seeing.

 

[mattennis]

He has some strange urge to say the most outlandish and extreme things, doesn't he?

The amount of damage that this kind of statements can do to Carlitos mind is serious.

 

[SonnyT]

Why? The B3 did it, so why not the new generation?

As they say in whatever sports, records are made to be broken! Some day, someone will challenge the scoring record of Ronaldo and Messi. Maybe Haaland!

 

[MissileBackHand99]

I really wish these commentators would just STFU with these ridiculous statements made for attention. Carlitos is just 19....can we let the kid reach legal drinking age (in the US anyways) before holding him to Big 4 levels of achievement?! Geez

 

[NapalmFist]

Alcaraz will accumulate more injuries than the big 3, and match the slam total of Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray.

No one could be injured more than Rafa. Every year he misses like 6 months.

 

[Chanwan]

No one could be injured more than Rafa. Every year he misses like 6 months.

I am sure that's why he has 9 seasons with 80+ matches (Novak has 7)

 

[NapalmFist]

Him coming back from injury and picking up right where he left off is pretty strong reassurance that he will be an all time great. Unless Djokovic somehow is able to hold Alcaraz off from winning all the slams for the next couple years it is a reasonable conclusion to make that he is going to dominate the tour going forward.

 

[Mustard]

Why? The B3 did it, so why not the new generation?

As they say in whatever sports, records are made to be broken! Some day, someone will challenge the scoring record of Ronaldo and Messi. Maybe Haaland!

Dixie Dean had 65 goals in a season (1927-28), when there was no European football competitions. Dean scored 65 goals in 42 games that season.

 

[NapalmFist]

I am sure that's why he has 9 seasons with 80+ matches

So 50% of the seasons he played were full seasons. Compare that to Djokovic now.

 

[Chanwan]

So 50% of the seasons he played were full seasons. Compare that to Djokovic now.

See my addition above. Rafa's still played 33 matches more than Novak to date

 

[SonnyT]

No one could be injured more than Rafa. Every year he misses like 6 months.

Don't exaggerate, Nadal never misses RG and other slams he thinks he has a chance of winning.

In his career, he played within one or two slams of Djokovic.

 

[NapalmFist]

Don't exaggerate, Nadal never misses RG and other slams he thinks he has a chance of winning.

In his career, he played within one or two slams of Djokovic.

This is ignorant AF. Nadal has missed or pulled out of I believe 20 grand slams in his career, and that doesn't even include the times where he lost while clearly significantly injured during the match (like this year AO and 2014 AO finals). The fact that Djokovic played more slams than Nadal despite the fact that Nadal is older, started playing the main tour at a younger age and Djokovic missing multiple slams not because of injury but because of vax bans shows how significant his injury withdrawal history is compared to Djokovic.

 

[Chanwan]

This is ignorant AF. Nadal has missed or pulled out of I believe 20 grand slams in his career, and that doesn't even include the times where he lost while clearly significantly injured during the match (like this year AO and 2014 AO finals). The fact that Djokovic played more slams than Nadal despite the fact that Nadal is older, started playing the main tour at a younger age and Djokovic missing multiple slams not because of injury but because of vax bans shows how significant his injury withdrawal history is compared to Djokovic.

And this is hyperbole AF.
Since 2005, Rafa's been absent at 9 slam tournaments. You may add FO 2004 if you wanna, so make it 10 (he wouldn't have been a factor at W 04, so I wouldn't add that).

 

[BeatlesFan]

This is ignorant AF. Nadal has missed or pulled out of I believe 20 grand slams in his career.

I believe Federer won 30 slams and its ignorant af to argue otherwise. I believe it, hence it's factual.

User pulls random number out of his a-s to bolster his "argument." Never mind the number is ridiculously inflated.

 

[NapalmFist]

And this is hyperbole AF.
Since 2005, Rafa's been absent at 9 slam tournaments. You may add FO 2004 if you wanna, so make it 10 (he wouldn't have been a factor at W 04, so I wouldn't add that).

• 2003 : Roland Garros (1).
• 2004 : Roland Garros (2), Wimbledon (3)
• 2006 : He has an issue on the soles of the left foot that cause a one month break and the withdrawal from the Australian Open (4). A back injury does not allow him to continue the match against Hewitt at The Queen's Club after winning the title of all the most important clay-courts events.
• 2009 : Tendon issue on both knees. The loss to Robin Soderling is the first one at the Roland Garros for Rafa, who skips Wimbledon as well (5). But 31 May will remain forever in the tennis history. In the same year he will suffer abdominal issues during US Open, although he still manages to reach the semifinals losing to Del Potro.
• 2012 : US Open (6) knee
• 2014: The back injury comes in the worst moment, during the Australian Open final. 'It hurt me more losing this final instead of the 2012's one against Djokovic', Nadal said after the match. Another one in same year, the wrist was one of the Fewer parts of Rafa's body that were not affected, but it ended in 2014 when the Spaniard player gets injured during a practice session and withdraws from Toronto, Cincinnati and US Open (7). He will return to compete in Beijing.
• 2016: We come to our days and the issue is still the wrist, that starts to bother him after Australian Open. He has treatments until April, then withdraws from Roland Garros(8) and Wimbledon(9). Comes back at the Olympics, loses to Pouille at the US Open and ends the season earlier.
• 2017 : Withdraws from Paris Masters quarter Final due to knee injury.
• 2018 : Hip injury caused hiim to retire in a quarterfinal match against Cilic in the fifth set of Australian Open (10). Nadal pulled out of the Mexican Open in Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami Masters.
• 2021: Foot injury caused him to pull out of both Wimbledon (11) and the US Open (12)
• 2022: Abdominal tear caused him to pull out of Wimbledon (13) prior to his SF match.

It is not 20 you are correct. Still vastly more than Federer and Djokovic.

 

[insideoutforehands]

I do think Alcarez is definitely the best thing to emerge since the Big 3. Predicting anyone to surpass the career of a 20+ slam winner (3 of them) after they won only 1 slam is silly under any conditions. Just let him show what he can do for awhile without extra insane pressure, and then start making broader predictions. But that is sport today, not just tennis. Everyone is obsessed with the current best being the GOAT, and if they aren't people don't want to watch. So they have to hype up someone current or upcoming as GOAT no matter what, no matter how ridiculous it is.

Wilander is also high on drugs constantly, and it shows in his commentary and never ending outlandish claims.

 

[insideoutforehands]

Wilander should disappear forever. He's about as relevant in current tennis knowledge as wooden racquets.

And listen to some of his tennis commentary on Eurosport. Yikes. I have literally heard him say "her/his backhand is their much stronger groundstroke" and "her/his forehand is their much stronger groundstroke" talking about the same person in the same match. And no he is not just referring to that match, which yes can change mid match. He is taking about them in general.

 

[ElChivoEspañol]

They should do routine drug testing at Wilander’s place of employment…

 

[helterskelter]

No one could be injured more than Rafa. Every year he misses like 6 months.

Morally, you are correct. Bull is the only injured Bovine ever to be the goat, after all.

In the world of appearances, however, Del Potro has had significantly more injuries.

 

[KC!]

Fact, Alcaraz has been the best player in men's tennis since 2022.
He is 84-14 with 9 titles, 5 already for 2023.
He's definitely the most exciting player to watch in tennis right now.
But no one can predict the future, we shall see what happens.
Talent wise he could push the records of the big 3 if he doesn't get injured or burned out.

 

[CHillTennis]

Holgar will make Carlos his pigeon....... it will be a Federer - Hewitt situation ...... who matured 2-3 years earlier won't matter when it is all said and done.

 

[Chanwan]

• 2003 : Roland Garros (1).
• 2004 : Roland Garros (2), Wimbledon (3)
• 2006 : He has an issue on the soles of the left foot that cause a one month break and the withdrawal from the Australian Open (4). A back injury does not allow him to continue the match against Hewitt at The Queen's Club after winning the title of all the most important clay-courts events.
• 2009 : Tendon issue on both knees. The loss to Robin Soderling is the first one at the Roland Garros for Rafa, who skips Wimbledon as well (5). But 31 May will remain forever in the tennis history. In the same year he will suffer abdominal issues during US Open, although he still manages to reach the semifinals losing to Del Potro.
• 2012 : US Open (6) knee
• 2014: The back injury comes in the worst moment, during the Australian Open final. 'It hurt me more losing this final instead of the 2012's one against Djokovic', Nadal said after the match. Another one in same year, the wrist was one of the Fewer parts of Rafa's body that were not affected, but it ended in 2014 when the Spaniard player gets injured during a practice session and withdraws from Toronto, Cincinnati and US Open (7). He will return to compete in Beijing.
• 2016: We come to our days and the issue is still the wrist, that starts to bother him after Australian Open. He has treatments until April, then withdraws from Roland Garros(8) and Wimbledon(9). Comes back at the Olympics, loses to Pouille at the US Open and ends the season earlier.
• 2017 : Withdraws from Paris Masters quarter Final due to knee injury.
• 2018 : Hip injury caused hiim to retire in a quarterfinal match against Cilic in the fifth set of Australian Open (10). Nadal pulled out of the Mexican Open in Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami Masters.
• 2021: Foot injury caused him to pull out of both Wimbledon (11) and the US Open (12)
• 2022: Abdominal tear caused him to pull out of Wimbledon (13) prior to his SF match.

It is not 20 you are correct. Still vastly more than Federer and Djokovic.

I don't count withdrawels mid-tournament as being absent, but tomato tomato. And yes, he's been harder hit than most but your original posts were still hyperbole.
Until this year he was never out of the top-10. That doesn't happen if you are Delpo-style injured

 

[Razer]

Both of them just turned 20, the H2H is 1-1.
So the game has only begun.
If Rune starts to win slams parallel with Alcaraz then it will be him having the better H2H.

 

[NoleFam]

It's Wilander so you can't take anything he says seriously. It's way too early and he just turned 20. They could at least wait until he reaches 5 Slams before all this talk. Winning 20 Slams is no joke. The big 3 did it because they had two other players pushing them and they're just exceptional. Alcaraz is extremely talented but talent isn't enough. No guarantee he will have that kind of motivation or how his body will react to the grueling tour. The hype machine needs to pump the brakes.

 

[KC!]

Both of them just turned 20, the H2H is 1-1.
So the game has only begun.
If Rune starts to win slams parallel with Alcaraz then it will be him having the better H2H.

You're a Alcaraz hater, why? Are you a Rafa, Novack, Federer fan?
I like them all, but Alcaraz has clearly played the best tennis the last few years.
I would love to see Rafa win RG, but I think it would take a miracle with him being out for so long.

 

[Razer]

You're a Alcaraz hater, why? Are you a Rafa, Novack, Federer fan?
I like them all, but Alcaraz has clearly played the best tennis the last few years.
I would love to see Rafa win RG, but I think it would take a miracle with him being out for so long.

Yeah right, I know him personally to hate him ??

I am neither his hater not his fan. I am bit of a fan of Rune, but it is too early for me to be invested into any single fanbase you know... plus I am a tennis fan, not a fanatic of anyone.

 

[KC!]

Yeah right, I know him personally to hate him ??

I am neither his hater not his fan. I am bit of a fan of Rune, but it is too early for me to be invested into any single fanbase you know... plus I am a tennis fan, not a fanatic of anyone.

You were the same person saying he will be out of teen by 25 because of height.
You don't give any facts on what you claim. He has been the best male tennis player in men's tennis for past two years, they record & tournament wins back it up. There is a lot of hype around him, we shall see what the future holds for him. But there is a good reason for all the hype, he is doing things that only the big 3 have done at such a young age. I like the big 3, I like Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner & many others. But right now, by the numbers Alcaraz is the best tennis player in the world. And he is only going to get better. Rune & Sinner are right there with him too. And a healthy Nadal or Novak are still probably on top if they can get & stay healthy. I agree with you on Rune, so talented. He just needs to get his head right; he mentally melts down too much. But he is young & will figure that out.

 

[Razer]

You were the same person saying he will be out of teen by 25 because of height.
You don't give any facts on what you claim. He has been the best male tennis player in men's tennis for past two years, they record & tournament wins back it up. There is a lot of hype around him, we shall see what the future holds for him. But there is a good reason for all the hype, he is doing things that only the big 3 have done at such a young age. I like the big 3, I like Alcaraz, Rune, Sinner & many others. But right now, by the numbers Alcaraz is the best tennis player in the world. And he is only going to get better. Rune & Sinner are right there with him too. And a healthy Nadal or Novak are still probably on top if they can get & stay healthy.

My prediction might even be wrong, it is just a guess.
I agree based on numbers Alcaraz is best (second) IMO, Novak is 1st, but the tide can change anytime or maybe it has already changed in favor of Alcaraz, we shall see.

 

[KC!]

My prediction might even be wrong, it is just a guess.
I agree based on numbers Alcaraz is best (second) IMO, Novak is 1st, but the tide can change anytime or maybe it has already changed in favor of Alcaraz, we shall see.

I agree Novak is the best; he just hasn't played as much being banned from travel to certain tournaments & injury.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Dixie Dean had 65 goals in a season (1927-28), when there was no European football competitions. Dean scored 65 goals in 42 games that season.

Pele scored 58 in 38 in the 1958 Paulista. Almost the same ratio and still better than Messi’s best.

 

[Robert C]

I stand by my previous prediction that Alcaraz wins between 4 to 8 slams and that it will be a long time before the sport has another double-digit slam winner. I think this applies to both the ATP and WTA.

This won’t take many years at all to look foolish.

 

[AgassiSuperSlam11]

This won’t take many years at all to look foolish.

We both might not be around for that long. If he does good for him. His body will need to hold up for years and also there will be more parody in the sport unlike a period where 3 players get 64 slams.

BTW, I accurately predicted him winning the USO months in advance and also Rio Open. I'll stick with "foolish" predictions opposed to not being bold.

 

[CHillTennis]

 

[HitMoreBHs]

Ask Mats about his career when he was a young prodigy. Reached #1 in the world and said it was more interesting to go out
and mow the lawn

Is “mow the lawn” the Swedish analogue of “eating a sandwich”?

 

[Nostradamus]

As always, Mats and McEnroe make ridiculous statements prior to a slam. This one is insane:

"Single most important player we have ever had,” Carlos Alcaraz put ahead of the Big-3 by Mats Wilander

The former Swedish star has made a big claim when it comes to the World Number 1

Former World Number 1 Mats Wilander has claimed that Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz could overtake the legacies of the Big 3 of tennis and become the “the single most important player we have ever had” in the sport. The experienced pundit believes the playing style of the 19-year-old brings about a reaction from the crowd he describes as the most exciting he has seen.

Wilander is enamored with the Spaniard’s style. He called the World No. 1’s US Open to win the most exciting tournament he has seen in his 20+ years of working in the media.

He believes that Alcaraz’s range of shots, work ethic, and speed make him compelling to watch.

Wilander said,” Here you have a guy who is trying so hard, he is so fast, he is playing with so many different shots, and he’s serving and volleying at 15-30. He’s 19 years old! He’s hitting drop shots at 15-30, he’s 19 years old! Then he dives, and at the end of it, he’s smiling and he’s laughing.”

https://firstsportz.com/tennis-news-carlos-alcaraz-put-ahead-of-the-big-3-by-mats-wilander/

hillarious.. wilander must have been run over by his wheels on wilander

 

[Arvid]

I think this is a very bad way to talk about a new young star. I mean the goal is set so high that if Alcaras would have a career similar to Wilander for example he would be considered a huge underachiver! How about just realising the kid has huge potential but so many things that lay in the future will determine how his career turns out. Crazy that so many People are already predicting him to have 20 plus gs titles...