At Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz looks to enter another exclusive club

WIMBLEDON, England – Carlos Alcaraz made history twice over when he defeated Alexander Zverev to win the French Open last month. The Spaniard became the first male player to win his first three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces – hard court, grass and clay – and became the only man in tennis history to win a Grand Slam on all three surfaces before turning 22.

With Wimbledon beginning Monday, Alcaraz has a chance to scribble his name in the history books once again.

This time, Alcaraz looks to join a club even more exclusive than the now seven-member crew that have won Grand Slam men’s titles on all three surfaces. As a favorite to win his second consecutive crown at the All-England Club, the 21-year-old will also be attempting to pull off the cleverly named “Channel Slam” and win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.

“Well, winning Grand Slams is difficult. Obviously changing from clay to a grass court, totally different surfaces, totally different game of play,” Alcaraz said ahead of his first-round match against Estonian Mark Lajal on Monday. “Let’s say, I’m going to try.”

Alcaraz radiated youthful optimism as he spoke about the challenge in a news conference Saturday, punctuating his sentences with a wide grin as he sat in front of reporters sporting a fresh haircut and wearing the trendy summer uniform of a heavyweight white T-shirt and cutoff jean shorts.

But don’t let his positivity disguise how ghastly the turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon can be.

There is a reason only five men have accomplished the 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 staged on the two surfaces least alike – slow clay and speedy grass – and require players to adjust their movement, ball striking, footwork and game strategy in just three weeks.

“I know that there’s going to be a really difficult and big challenge for me (winning the two Grand Slams back-to-back),” Alcaraz said, “but I think I’m ready to do it.”

He is among a small group of favorites to win the men’s title here, along with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the lanky Italian who won the Australian Open in January and lost to his budding rival Alcaraz in the semifinals of the French Open. Zverev made it to the semifinals of a grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, ahead of Wimbledon and could make a deep run as well. And world No. 2 Novak Djokovic is feeling confident about his ability to compete despite having surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on June 5.

Djokovic, who will play for his eighth Wimbledon championship, which would tie Roger Federer’s record on the men’s side, isn’t the only former champion hoping making a quick comeback from surgery. Two-time winner Andy Murray hasn’t decided if he’ll play his first-round singles match against Tomas Mahac Tuesday after undergoing a procedure on June 22 to remove a cyst from his spinal cord that was compressing a nerve and affecting sensation in his right leg.

“I’ve been practicing for the last few days. I played a set today,” Murray said Sunday. “It went pretty well, but I still don’t have 100 percent sort of feeling and sensation in my leg yet. It’s getting better every single day. Like I said a few days ago, I want to give it every single chance that 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 draw, reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champion Ayrna Sabalenka are both trying to win for the first time at Wimbledon.

Swiatek, the top-ranked player in the world, is coming down from the dual highs of capturing her fourth title at Roland Garros earlier this month and seeing Taylor Swift perform in Liverpool, England.

“I actually was thinking about going [to see Swift] here for the second time. My team was like, ‘Okay …,’” Swiatek said, trailing off. “Basically after this concert, like three days after I was so excited I couldn’t sleep and everything. We decided it’s better to focus on the tournament.”

Swiatek had regained her usual cool by the time she arrived at Wimbledon. She has not played a tournament since the French Open and instead opted to dedicate her time to practicing on grass, focusing specifically on her movement, which is so suited for clay, as well as 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 an opening-round stunner last year.

That memory has served to calm 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 shooting to tennis stardom here as a 15-year-old.

“Yeah, for me, with Wimbledon, I’m really relaxed going into this year,” Gauff said. “I did not have a great Wimbledon last year. It’s like, it couldn’t get any worse, it can only get better or the same.”

Gauff did manage to take from last year’s loss the lesson that difficult times don’t last forever. She went on a late-summer tear after falling to Kenin, winning three hard-court tournaments including the U.S. Open and beginning the ascent that resulted in her current ranking of No. 2 in the world.

“Oh, man,” Gauff said Saturday, “I wish a year ago, me after that match could see me now.”