The past week in the tennis world has been all about Carlos Alcaraz after he beat Novak Djokovic to win his second Wimbledon title. Now, a social media influencer has hailed Alcaraz as the greatest ever 21-year-old tennis player, owing to all the records. This created a bit of a debate on social media.
Bastian Fachan, an X user known for his tennis posts, shared that Alcaraz has not only won 4 Grand Slams but he did that on 3 different surfaces. Alcaraz has also won 5 ATP 1000 Masters and became the first male teenager to be ranked no. 1 in the world.
To top it all, the Spaniard also completed the ‘Channel Slam’ (when a player wins both the French Open and Wimbledon). With so many records to his name already, it wasn’t too far-fetched for him to call Alcaraz the greatest 21-year-old tennis player. However, there were some exceptions to that tag, as many other commenters pointed out.
The first, and possibly the most prominent name, was Monica Seles. Seles started her tennis career extremely early and by the time she turned 20, had won 9 Grand Slam titles. She won them across all four Slams and three surfaces.
Many considered Monica Seles to be the next GOAT of women’s tennis but a freak stabbing accident in 1993 changed the course of her career. She came back in 1996 to win the Australian Open, but that was her final Grand Slam win.
While Seles was one of the main contenders to Alcaraz, others suggested Rafael Nadal and Steffi Graf as well. Here’s how the fans reacted:
Is Carlos Alcaraz the greatest 21 year-old tennis has ever seen? #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/FZCY0hCDAE
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 14, 2024
Greatest 21 year old (male) tennis player.
If you however compare apples ( men) to oranges(women) then no……he is not the greatest.
Monica Seles was the greatest. https://t.co/e698BYbhbe
— Trudy Seivwright MD (@SeivwrightTrudy) July 15, 2024
No. Monica Seles was greater
— Puneet (@TennisPuneet) July 15, 2024
Rafael Nadal at 21(In Peak Roger ERA):
— 3 Grand Slams
— 5 Grand Slam Finals
— 26 Titles
— 11 Masters(5 Setter Final)
— 1 Davis Cup
— 10-6 vs Federer
— 3-2 vs Federer in Grand Slamsanythough on above…
— VK -100%FollowBack 🙂 (@vaseem007) July 15, 2024
Monica Seles!!
— TM (@tushmath) July 15, 2024
How Does Monica Seles Compare to Carlos Alcaraz at Age 21
Monica Seles won her first Grand Slam in 1990, the French Open, after a 36-match winning streak. The winning run included an Italian Open title, the Lufthansa Cup in Berlin, and the Lipton Player’s Championship. She was only 16 then.
After that, there was no stopping her. In 1991 and 1992, Seles won 3 Grand Slams each. During this period, she defeated the likes of Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova multiple times. Seles became a revelation and a sensation in the tennis world. Her 1991 US Open win over Navratilova by 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 was extra special since she came back after suffering from shin splints.
There is a strong argument to make for Monica Seles as the greatest 21-year-old tennis player ever across genders. Others like Steffi Graf and Rafael Nadal also make a formidable case. Had it been for social media, players like Seles and Graf would be far more celebrated than they are.
By the numbers, Carlos Alcaraz isn’t the greatest 21-year-old player of all time despite all his records. But he is certainly the best in the last 15 years and could build on that and possibly become the greatest ever.
