John McEnroe has one worry for Carlos Alcaraz as he predicted how many Grand Slams the Spaniard will win.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a blistering start to his Grand Slam career having already won four majors, two of which came at Wimbledon.
Carlos Alcaraz will certainly be a threat for the Grand Slams in 2025, especially the Australian Open, the one major he was yet to win.
But John McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slam titles of his own, has one concern about the Spaniard that could prevent him from winning many more of tennis’ biggest titles.
What is John McEnroe’s concern for Carlos Alcaraz?
Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed an excellent start to his Grand Slam career. The World number three has won each of his four finals so far and has lost just one five-set match in his career so far.
But as Alcaraz’s career progresses, McEnroe worries that he will find it more challenging to play against taller guys with big serves that can win more free points, especially in the longer best-of-five matches.
“Now you have Medvedev, these types of guys, who are standing 50ft behind the baseline, willing to run 25% more than his opponent and still standing as far back as you can stand,” McEnroe said on Andy Roddick’s ‘Served’ podcast.
“He’s 6ft 6inch. Zverev, these guys. Do they have that explosive speed of Alcaraz? No. Nobody does. This guy is the greatest talent I have ever seen in the last 20 years. The most pleasure to watch, Carlos Alcaraz, maybe that I have ever seen. Certainly at this age.
“My worry is that he is 6ft and half an inch tall and these other guys are going to drive him nuts because he is going to play these guys who serve out of a mountain and he gets frustrated and it’s going to be tough. He’s got to be really strong, to get close to that level of Rafa and these other guys.”
How many Grand Slams does John McEnroe think Carlos Alcaraz will win?
The sky is the limit for what Alcaraz can produce at Grand Slams having already won four of them.
In fact, with Rafael Nadal now retired, Alcaraz is the player with the second-highest number of majors on the ATP Tour after Novak Djokovic with 24.
He has established himself at the forefront of a new era of men’s tennis alongside Jannik Sinner, the World number one and with two majors to his name.
McEnroe has been very impressed with what Alcaraz has achieved so far, and expects him to reach double figures in majors.
“If you had told me the three guys 20 years ago would beat Pete who was arguably the best player who ever lived, had 14 majors and it took 35 years for him to pass Roy Emerson, that three of these guys would do it and hit 20 or more, I would have said you’re out of your mind,” McEnroe added.
“I hope I am wrong about Alcaraz. That he is not going to be able to keep this up as long, I still think he is going to win 10 of them, which would still be unbelievable.”
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