Famously, Carlos Alcaraz is a fan of Roger Federer, having always been an even bigger admirer of the great Swiss than he is of his great compatriot, Rafael Nadal. Now the fandom might be mutual, because in defending his Wimbledon title against Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz has also defended Federer’s one remaining tennis title as the King of Grass – at least until Alcaraz himself starts accumulating many more Wimbledon titles.
Alcaraz Defends Federer’s Title as King of Grass
It is one of the many legacies of the Big Three era that almost every time now there is a men’s Major Singles Final, it is universally proclaimed that “history is on the line”. Precisely because Federer, Nadal and Djokovic drove each other on to win at least 20 Major Singles titles, every subsequent generation of male tennis player will be measured against them. In Carlos Alcaraz, however, the Big Three have an immediate successor who is not only worthy of comparison to them but who might one day even surpass their incredible achievements. In the process, he is also capable of rewriting the history of the Big Three era, especially on grass at Wimbledon.
Just as in 2023, Djokovic went into the 2024 Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final with the opportunity to draw level with Roger Federer as the greatest male Wimbledon champion by equalling Federer’s all-time record of eight Wimbledon Men’s Singles titles. However, just as in 2023, albeit with a lot less fuss, Alcaraz denied Djokovic that opportunity, beating him relatively easily in straight sets – 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) – to reclaim his title and leave Federer standing alone, at least for the time being, as the greatest male grass-court player ever, including in the Big Three era.
Alcaraz, of course, was playing for himself and not Federer, his idol. Nevertheless, he and the global army of FedHeds will have regarded it as a wonderful bonus that in retaining his title he also helped to maintain Federer’s record title haul at Wimbledon.
For Now, The Big Three Each Retain Distinct and Unique Titles
As I wrote before the tournament, when Djokovic’s entry to the tournament was by no means guaranteed following knee surgery, it would be fitting historically if the greatest ever era of men’s tennis ended with each member of the triumvirate retaining a distinct and unique title, in recognition of the sheer competitiveness of their era.
Djokovic’s own title as the statistically the Greatest of All Time in men’s tennis is unchallenged for now and may ultimately remain unchallenged, even by Alcaraz. Having already won 24 Major Singles titles, Djokovic has certainly put clear blue water between his total of Major titles and those of Nadal (22) and Federer (20).
Nevertheless, Nadal remains the King of Clay, having won a truly remarkable 14 French Open titles, which, like Djokovic’s overall total of 24 Majors, may prove to be a figure that is never matched, at least by a man. Iga Świątek, who already has four Roland-Garros titles, might one day match or even overtake Nadal’s total, but it is virtually impossible to see any current male tennis player – even Alcaraz, who won his first French Open last month – getting near to Nadal’s historic total.
Now, in the wake of Alcaraz defeating Djokovic in the Wimbledon final for the second year in succession, it is possible, if not likely, that Federer will retain his title as The King of Grass, at least for the time being or until Alcaraz himself comes close to matching his total of eight Wimbledon titles. At the very least, even if Alcaraz ultimately overtakes him in the future, it is now increasingly likely that Federer will continue to have the greatest number of grass-court Major titles of any member of the Big Three.
It Was Always A Big Three And Not Just A Giant One
Given the extraordinary nature of “The Trivalry” between Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, which is arguably the greatest rivalry in the history of all sport, it would be fitting if they all remained relatively close in their totals of Major Singles titles and if they all remained dominant in one particular aspect of the sport.
When Djokovic recovered spectacularly from his 2023 Wimbledon final defeat to Alcaraz to win the US Open, which was his third Major triumph of that year, it seemed that he might be able to distance himself forever from any comparison with Federer and Nadal by winning 25-plus Major Singles titles. In particular, it seemed that he would at least draw level with Federer’s total of eight Wimbledon titles, which would have allowed him and his fans to claim that, statistically at least, he was Federer’s equal on grass.
Djokovic, of course, can win another Major, to break his tie with Margaret Court on 24 Major Singles titles. He went into Wimbledon 2024 having undergone knee surgery less than a month earlier after tearing his meniscus at the French Open and he did incredibly well just to compete at Wimbledon, let alone reach the final.
However, even if Djokovic’s knee makes a full recovery, it does seem increasingly likely that he will not win another Wimbledon title, unless Alcaraz is injured or otherwise absent from the draw. In beating him back to back in Wimbledon finals, and doing so the second time in such comprehensive fashion, Alcaraz has shown that he is the new King of Grass. Indeed, such was his dominance in the 2024 final against Djokovic, it may ultimately be Alcaraz himself who draws level, or even beats, Federer’s total of eight Wimbledon titles rather than Djokovic.
Grass Is The Ultimate Tennis Surface
Grass is the most demanding of the three main surfaces that tennis is played on, because it is the fastest and most unpredictable surface, and because it requires the most acclimatisation in the shortest period of time. Consequently, it is inevitable that increasingly few tennis players are able to excel on it, given how little time they play on it (especially in comparison with most of the 20th century, when three of the four Majors were played on grass) and how little time they have to adapt to it.
Other than Djokovic, who he has now dominated in a Wimbledon final, it is hard to see anyone else seriously threatening Alcaraz on grass in the next few years. Even his greatest rival on other surfaces, Jannik Sinner, has yet to prove that he can win a Major on grass; Sinner may have won a Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Halle, but that is still a long way from winning Wimbledon itself.
Alcaraz May Ultimately Surpass Federer On Grass
That is why it is certainly not impossible that Alcaraz may one day surpass Federer’s total of eight Wimbledon titles. Indeed, given his current dominance and relative paucity of serious rivals on grass, Alcaraz may be about to embark on a period of complete domination at Wimbledon comparable to that of Federer in the noughties, Sampras in the 1990s and Borg in the 1970s.
If that does happen and Alcaraz makes Centre Court his own as comprehensively as Djokovic, Federer, Sampras and Borg have done in the past, he will almost certainly come very close to matching or even exceeding Federer’s total of Wimbledon titles. But for now at least, the young Spaniard and super-fan of Federer has done everything he can to ensure that Federer remains The King of Grass for the foreseeable future.
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports:
