London – Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz are helping usher in a new era of tennis.
As Wimbledon begins, the sport’s latest Grand Slam champions are 21-year-old American Gauff and 22-year-old Spanish Alcaraz, who are second in the rankings and both leave the French Open Championship, which makes the finals with the sport’s first place.
They are young, they are charming on the court and are media friendly.
Gauff-Sabalenka, Alcaraz-Sinner competes tennis on Wimbledon’s arrival
Along with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and former No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the women’s game, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s, Gauff and Alcaraz offer a bright future for a sport’s fanbase that in recent years saw all-time greats Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal walk away and currently might be pondering how much longer Novak Djokovic will contend for the biggest prizes.
“Tennis is in a great place right now. We’re lucky to have not only cocoa but not only Carlos, but also a large number of young star seats that just drive the growth of our sport,” said U.S. Open Director Stacey Allaster. “I’ve been through a long time and when we’ve lost great iconic champions in the past, it’s usually a little tilted. During this transition, we’re in the exact opposite. … I always like to say that today’s champions are on the shoulders of the past today. These champions have jumped past titles.”
One of the keys to a sport, especially one, is that people’s attention and growth are competition that needs to be bought.
Alcaraz and Sinner clearly state what Federer and Nadal or Nadal and Djokovic do.
The French Open’s final against Sinner is crazy
In Roland-Garros’ five-set, five-and-a-half-hour men’s final, momentum swing, excellent tennis and athleticism are just as great as those great things.
“Level,” said twice at Wimbledon champion Alcaraz, “It’s crazy.”
He and the 23-year-old sinner are currently allocating the biggest prizes – they have allocated prizes in the past six major trophies and eight of the past 11 – surely reminiscent of three great dominances, although the sample size has been much smaller so far.
“Let these two guys fight for the big trophy – I think we have to be very happy about it in tennis,” said Alcaraz’s lead coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. “For them, it’s certain that whenever they get on the court, they’re going to improve their level. They know they have to play incredible tennis to beat the other guy, which will help ensure that every player is getting better.”
Sabalenka
It seems that Gauff vs. Sabalenka can also provide this dynamic and buzz.
Consider that, like Alcaraz and the Sinner, they occupy the top two in the rankings. And consider that like the other two, both have multiple main titles. Gauff’s two Grand Slam wins won three sets, beating Sabalenka’s final.
Plus, less than a month ago, their latest meeting at Roland-Garros brought some extra spices as Sabalenka’s post-match comments were considered not completely merciful to Gauff.
Sabalenka felt the need to send out a pair of apology, which was an apology – a private interview by writing to Gauff while in her next match.
Add to this range of off-court interest, if the All England clubs have replayed a few weeks from now, no one invested in tennis will be dissatisfied.
“Overall, when we think of the sport, our sales momentum and storm are incredible,” said Lew Sherr, who will serve as CEO of the American Tennis Association. “We’ve grown for five years in a row… Of course, this is driven in part by the great talent and inspiring players we have at the professional level, and it also feeds record attendance, record interest, record ratings. These things go hand in hand. We didn’t miss any beats.”
