"This generation is almost certainly weaker than the 'Big-3' generations" - Ben Rothenberg on Carlos Alcaraz's chances of catching up with Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer in the Slam race

Carlos Alcaraz's incredible achievements, which include winning the 2022 US Open and becoming the youngest-ever World No. 1 in ATP history, have evoked comparisons with the Big 3.

Whether or not Alcaraz will be able to surpass the phenomenal milestones set by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was the subject of intense deliberation during the Match Points podcast on Tennis Majors featuring Marion Bartoli, Carole Bouchard, and Ben Rothenberg.

The debate about whether #Alcaraz will dominate men’s tennis is misled by the comparison with Big 3. Sometimes we forget that asking anyone in any era to win 20 grand slam titles is too high of a bar. So high that it’s a meaningless debate.

While all three tennis experts were in agreement that winning 20 or more Grand Slams was a seemingly impossible task, Rothenberg and Bouchard suggested that the current generation of players were not in the same class as the Big 3 or Serena Williams.

Rothenberg also opined that Steffi Graf's haul of 22 Majors was achieved during "a bit of a weak era" and that Alcaraz could indeed benefit from a lack of intense competition.

"This generation is almost certainly weaker than the Big 3 generations so there could be space for him to win more. Maybe a little bit like Steffi Graf did, get a bit of a weak era and rack them up but yeah, not like 20 as a given. No way a little more," said Rothenberg.

Graf arrived on the scene when the Martina Navratilova-Chris Evert era was drawing to a close but still managed to manufacture a legendary rivalry with Navratilova. Their head-to-head was spilt down the middle at 9-9.

Graf was also tested by players like Gabriela Sabatini and Monica Seles but retired in 1999 when Venus and Serena Williams entered the scene.

This comparison is so stupid as if Alcaraz beat the opponents who were at their peak. Big 3 had to face elite opponents in most of their matches unlike the current weak gen. This overhype is too much lol. twitter.com/Tennis/status/…

When asked what Carlos Alcaraz's chances were of getting close to 20 Slams on a scale of 1 to 10, Carole Bouchard went with 1.

"I'm at 1, I wanted to be generous and go up to 3, thinking maybe this generation is really, you know, far below his potential, may be, in the past there was Novak, Rafa and Federer like who had each other," she stated.

Carlos Alcaraz loses debut match as World No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in a Davis Cup tie in his first match as World No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz went down to Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday as Spain took on Canada in the Davis Cup group stage.

Alcaraz lost 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 in front of his home crowd in Valencia, who had flocked to the stadium to watch the Spaniard play his first match since winning the US Open and ascending to the World No. 1 position.

Swapping pennants 🤝🇪🇸🇨🇦

@CarlosAlcaraz | @FelixTennis | #DavisCup https://t.co/qfpN44MSTp

Alcaraz has now lost both his encounters against Auger-Aliassime on the ATP tour. He was forced to retire mid-match during their first meeting in the quarterfinals of the 2021 US Open.

Both Spain and Canada eventually qualified for the Davis Cup Finals knock-out stage to be held in November.

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