TENNIS
Federer’s former coach is cautious about expectations around Alcaraz
Many have made predictions on how many majors the Spaniard can win, but for Severin Luthi it’s too early to have such expectations on a young player like Alcaraz.
The countdown for the US Open has begun and players will be able to prepare for the last major of the season by playing in different hard-court tournaments.
Two Masters 1000 will be played right before the fourth Grand Slam tournament, Toronto and Cincinnati, and Carlos Alcaraz is expected to, at least, feature in the Canadian Open after taking a break from the competition after participating in the Hopman Cup.
The Murcia native has been in the spotlight all this term, but after winning Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic some weeks ago, he has become the ATP tour’s main attraction.
Severin Luthi, cautious about Alcaraz’s future
While many former players, commentators, and tennis analysts have started toying with the number of majors that Alcaraz could win throughout his career, Swiss coach Severin Luthi has preferred to be more cautious.
“He has what it takes to win many Grand Slam tournaments. And yet we don’t know what will happen in two years. What if he hurts himself?”, he said.
“What if there’s another one coming out in a few years that we all say is even more incredible? And how someone will react to great success is something we can’t estimate that early on. In sports, we always live in the moment. I’ve learned that in my career”, Luthi added.
Even being in touch with tennis every day, Luthi admitted that he was wrong in most of his tennis predictions.
“I guess I’ve been wrong about most of the predictions I’ve made in my life. I still remember when Pete Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles, I said ‘No one will ever achieve that again!’ Now we already have three players who have 20 or more Grand Slam tournament wins. And it’s not like 250 years have passed since I made my statement”, Luthi concluded.
Alcaraz will be looking for the 13th ATP title of his career and his third major when he gets to the Flushing Meadows facilities. Novak Djokovic, his biggest threat for the title, could lift his 24th major.