McEnroe explains why Alcaraz will struggle to be the GOAT of tennis

Carlos Alcaraz has returned to the circuit in a big way after the wrist injury that kept him off the circuit for four and a half months. The Spanish tennis player made his comeback at the US Open, reaching the quarter-finals despite lacking match practice, and at the ATP Tokyo he will play in the final against Jiri Lehecka to try to defend the title he won last year. However, John McEnroe has highlighted a key factor that could hinder the Spanish player's aspirations to match the records of players like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

At just 23 years old, Alcaraz already has 7 Grand Slams and a silver medal at the Olympics. Carlos is breaking all possible precocity statistics, and this year at the Australian Open he became the youngest player to complete the Career Grand Slam. However, McEnroe believes that the evolution of tennis and the players themselves will affect Alcaraz's ability to win titles, and he made this known in the podcast 'Off Court'.

“In my opinion, one of the reasons why it will be so difficult for Carlos to approach the Grand Slam figures of Novak and Roger is that there are towering players like Shelton, capable of stepping onto the court and playing incredible matches; at times, they even manage to take the initiative away from Carlos Alcaraz himself and frustrate him,” he stated. It is true that in the era of Federer or Djokovic, there were also tall big servers like Sam Querrey or John Isner, but today these players are also able to keep up the pace from the baseline and have more variety in their shots.

McEnroe is not worried about Alcaraz's loss to Shelton

However, McEnroe is not overly concerned about Alcaraz's loss to Shelton at the US Open, as he believes it was the result of the context of the situation and the Spaniard's period of inactivity, combined with the American's outstanding performance. “Watching him play, he didn't seem to have lost competitive rhythm. That lack of match practice —if it can even be called that— became evident when he faced a superior opponent who was playing the best match of his life, feeding off the incredible energy in the atmosphere.”

In fact, to conclude his remarks, the former number 1 didn’t hesitate to express kind words towards the Spanish player, stating that "as the tournament progressed, it seemed that Carlos was going to win it, he didn’t get to display his best tennis and his body ultimately took a toll; however, much of it was due to Ben’s merit. I want to reiterate my gratitude to Carlos for coming to play; his return was something very important for the US Open.”

This is not the first legend to thank Alcaraz for the effort of returning directly at a Grand Slam. Tennis missed him greatly, not only for his play. His joy on the court, his charisma, and even his good sportsmanship, as one of the most talked-about news during his return was how he left the court after his loss to Shelton with a beaming smile, knowing that he was back and could finally enjoy what he loves most.

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