Carlos Alcaraz is an eighth of the way towards Novak Djokovic’s haul of 24 grand slam titles and is already dreaming of catching the Serbian superstar.
Alcaraz captured his third major crown, and his first French Open title, when he beat Alexander Zverev in a five-set marathon on Sunday.
The 21-year-old certainly has time on his side as Djokovic was 24 when he claimed his third grand slam win, at Wimbledon in 2011.
After joining fellow Spaniard Nadal as the only men to lift the Roland Garros trophy aged under 22, Alcaraz was asked whether he could eventually match Djokovic’s record tally.
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“I don’t know. I hope so,” he smiled.
“I talked to (coach) Juan Carlos (Ferrero) a few days ago. Before facing this final, he told me how I’m going to fight for a third grand slam title, with everything you have been through, and you know the difficult part of winning a grand slam – and Djoko has 24! So it is unbelievable.
“Right now I can’t think about it. I just want to keep going, and let’s see how many grand slams I’m going to take at the end of my career.
“Hopefully I’ll reach the 24, but right now I’m going to enjoy my third one, and let’s see in the future.”
Alcaraz is the youngest man to win a grand slam title on all three surfaces, adding the Paris clay to his hard-court US Open success and last year’s win on the Wimbledon grass.
It was a remarkable achievement given he played wearing a supportive sleeve on his arm having been injured in the weeks leading up the the tournament.
“What am I most proud of? That’s a difficult question,” he added.
“I mean, obviously winning the US Open, something that I dreamt of since I started playing tennis, getting my first grand slam, was pretty special.
“But honestly, the way that I won Wimbledon, beating Novak in five sets, was a great achievement for me.
“But right now lifting the Roland Garros trophy, knowing everything that I have been through the last month with the injuries and all that stuff, I don’t know. Probably this one.
“Probably this one is the moment that I’m really proud about myself, because of everything that I have done in the last month just to be ready for this tournament with my team, a lot of talks with them.
“So I’m going to say this one is the most that I am proud about myself.”
