If there was ever an epitome of the quote ‘Innocence is bliss,’ it would be the young prodigy who took the sporting world by storm last night – Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. Rarely does an event overshadow a Euro final in football, yet Alcaraz achieved this by winning Wimbledon on July 14.
Adding to his rapidly growing legacy at just 21, Alcaraz defeated 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, a man who had not lost on Wimbledon’s center court from 2013 to 2022 until Alcaraz’s back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. By making arguably the greatest player in the sport look mortal, the Spaniard at just 21 is already making heads turn, with many fans and experts claiming him to be the future GOAT.
For context, Alcaraz already has more Grand Slams (4) than the fourth member of the previous generation’s “Big Four,” Andy Murray (3). Winning on three different surfaces showcases his versatility and adaptability.
Before we dive into whether cricket has ever seen an equivalent to Alcaraz, here’s a quick peek at some of his mind-boggling achievements.
Alcaraz’s Record-Breaking Feats
With his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 demolition of seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz has cemented his place in tennis history. A series of ‘youngest’ records and several ‘all-time’ records have been shattered.
Alcaraz is the third youngest player in the Open Era to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles at 21 years and 70 days, following Boris Becker (18 years 227 days) and Bjorn Borg (21 years 26 days). He became the youngest player ever to win a Grand Slam on three different surfaces when he triumphed in the French Open earlier this year.
He is also only the second player after Roger Federer to win his first four Grand Slam finals and the sixth player in tennis history to win the ‘Channel Slam’ (French Open and Wimbledon in the same year). Achieving all this by age 21 prompts comparisons to the big three of tennis—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic—when they were at a similar stage in their careers.
Alcaraz vs. the Big Three
Alcaraz has reached his fourth Grand Slam title faster than Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in both age and the number of matches played. This positions him as a potential challenger to tennis records previously unimaginable.
A Cricketing Equivalent to Alcaraz?
To find a cricketer comparable to Carlos Alcaraz’s achievements in tennis, we need someone who broke numerous ‘youngest’ records. The first name that comes to mind, especially for Indian fans, is the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar scored his first Test century at just 17, making him the third youngest ever. He was the youngest to reach 1,000 Test runs at 19 years and 217 days, and he also became the youngest to 2,000 and 5,000 Test runs. Tendulkar’s ability to score big from a young age mirrors Alcaraz’s early success in tennis.
While Alastair Cook surpassed Tendulkar in milestones like 7,000 and 8,000 Test runs, Tendulkar remains the flagbearer for overachieving at a young age, similar to Alcaraz. Tendulkar finished as Test cricket’s all-time leading run-scorer with 15,921 runs, a testament to his early and consistent success.
In ODI cricket, several players hold ‘youngest’ records for various milestones. However, Tendulkar was the youngest to 2,000 to 5,000 ODI runs between the ages of 20 and 23. Despite his records, Alcaraz’s unique combination of ‘youngest’ and ‘fastest’ records across multiple aspects of tennis is unparalleled in cricket.
Shubman Gill has started breaking ODI batting records at a young age, thanks to his incredible 2023 season. Yet, he is well behind in Tests and T20Is to be projected as the Alcaraz of cricket. In bowling, Rashid Khan started his international career at 17 with immediate success, holding several fastest and youngest records in white-ball cricket, but lacks significant achievements in Test cricket.
Conclusion
Even as Tendulkar closely parallels Alcaraz in cricket, achieving ultimate team glory while being the youngest and fastest in several individual categories is unprecedented in cricket, as seen with Alcaraz in tennis. Team sports make it harder for an individual to achieve ultimate success, as individual records don’t always translate to team accomplishments.
For cricket fans to grasp the enormity of Alcaraz’s achievements at such a young age, Tendulkar’s early career serves as the ideal example. However, even Tendulkar’s remarkable journey may fall slightly short of what Alcaraz is accomplishing in tennis.
Tendulkar remains the all-time leading run-scorer in international cricket, raising the question: Will Carlos Alcaraz follow a similar path and finish with the most Grand Slams in tennis history?
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