A win at Wimbledon would put Carlos Alcaraz in another exclusive club

With Wimbledon starting on Monday, Alcaraz has the chance to write his name back into the history books.

This time, Alcaraz wants to join a club that is even more exclusive than the now seven-member squad that has won men’s Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces. Favorite to win his second consecutive title at the All-England Club, the 21-year-old will also look to win the cleverly named “Channel Slam” and win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

“Well, winning Grand Slams is difficult. Obviously the switch from clay to grass is a completely different surface, a completely different form of game,” Alcaraz said ahead of his first round match against Estonian Mark Lajal on Monday. “Let’s just say, I’m going to try.”

Alcaraz exuded youthful optimism as he spoke about the challenge at a news conference on Saturday, punctuating his sentences with a wide grin as he sat before reporters with a fresh haircut and wearing the trendy summer uniform of a heavy white T-shirt and a cut-off jeans. shorts.

But don’t let his positivity obscure how devastating the turnaround between Roland Garros and Wimbledon can be.

There’s a reason why only five men have accomplished this feat since the Open era began in 1968: Rod Laver (in 1969, the year he won the Grand Slam), Bjorn Borg (in 1978, 1979 and 1980), Rafael Nadal (in 2008 and 2010), Roger Federer (in 2009) and Novak Djokovic (in 2021). The tournaments are held on the two least similar surfaces: slow clay and fast grass, and require players to adapt their movements, ball striking, footwork and game strategy in just three weeks.

“I know it will be a very difficult and big challenge for me (winning the two Grand Slams back-to-back),” Alcaraz said, “but I think I am ready for it.”

He is one of a small group of favorites to win the men’s title here, along with world number 1 Jannik Sinner, the skinny Italian who won the Australian Open in January and lost to his rival in the French Open semi-final emerging rival Alcaraz. Zverev reached the semifinals of a grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, ahead of Wimbledon and could also make a deep run. And world number 2 Novak Djokovic is confident he can compete despite undergoing surgery on June 5 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Djokovic, who will be seeking his eighth Wimbledon title, which would tie Roger Federer’s record for men’s singles, is not the only former champion hoping for a quick comeback after surgery. Two-time winner Andy Murray has not yet decided whether he will play his first-round singles match against Tomas Mahac on Tuesday after undergoing surgery on June 22 to remove a cyst from his spinal cord that was pinching a nerve and affecting sensation in his right leg.

“I’ve been practicing for the past few days. I played a set today,” Murray said on Sunday. “It went pretty well, but I still don’t have 100 percent feeling in my leg. It gets better every day. Like I said a few days ago, I want to give it every chance I can to get there.

The 37-year-old Scot has said this Wimbledon will be his last; he plans to retire after the Paris Olympics.

In the women’s section, reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champion Ayrna Sabalenka are both trying to win at Wimbledon for the first time.

Swiatek, the world’s highest-ranked player, is reeling from the highs of her fourth title at Roland Garros earlier this month and her performance with Taylor Swift in Liverpool, England.

“I was actually thinking about coming here to Swift for the second time. My team was like, ‘Okay…’” Swiatek said as he walked away. “Actually after this concert, three days later, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep and stuff. We decided it’s better to focus on the tournament.”

Swiatek had regained her usual composure when she arrived at Wimbledon. She has not played a tournament since the French Open and has instead chosen to spend her time practicing on grass, focusing specifically on her clay-court moves and her serve.

She drew a formidable challenger in the first round: American Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin, who won the Australian Open in 2020 and upset Coco Gauff in the opening round last year.

That memory has reassured Gauff this time around as she arrives at Wimbledon hoping for a better result. The Floridian is another favorite to win what would be her second Grand Slam title, five years after she shot to tennis stardom here as a 15-year-old.

“Yes, for me, with Wimbledon, I’m very relaxed going into this year,” Gauff said. “I didn’t have a great Wimbledon last year. It’s like it can’t get any worse, it can just get better or the same.”

Gauff was able to learn from last year’s loss that tough times don’t last forever. She went full speed ahead at the end of the summer after falling from Kenin, won three hard-court tournaments including the US Open and began the climb that resulted in her current second place in the world rankings.

“Oh man,” Gauff said Saturday, “I wish a year ago, after that game, I could have seen myself now.”