MELBOURNE, Australia | Even if it looks very promising, we shouldn’t expect the next generation, that of Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune but also Félix Auger-Aliassime, to multiply big titles like the “Big 3” have done for the last two decades , Rafael Nadal warned on Saturday.
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At first glance, the statement may seem conceited. But the Spaniard, holder of 22 Grand Slam trophies – one ahead of Novak Djokovic, two ahead of the now-retired Roger Federer – had a statement backing his words.
“Because three players [ont cumulé autant de titres]We are losing sight of how difficult it is, underlined “Rafa” at a press conference. [Federer, Djokovic et moi], we all play or still play tennis at 36 years old. You have to have a very, very long career for that. »
“There are some players who get injured,” he said. And there are other events that can happen in life. »
Watch out for the pressure
The veteran, first set in Australia, doesn’t claim to have a crystal ball. “They could of course win so many big titles. But at the same time it had never happened before. »
“They’re very good,” he added of these young wolves as they increasingly carve out their place on the tennis chessboard. But Carlos won a Grand Slam title and the others none. So to mention that they could win 20, 21 or 22 is great. »
As so often in the past year, when journalists drew parallels between his young compatriot Alcaraz and himself, Nadal also hinted that it was ‘unfair’ to put so much pressure on these players.
“But I have no doubts about their potential,” he said.