With Carlos Alcaraz jumping the ATP’s line of succession, where does that leave the Next Gen?

WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz speaks with the media after winning the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open final

There has been no limit to the praises that have been sung about Carlos Alcaraz over the last three months. In fact, even though he’s only 19 and may be at the top of the game for the next 20 years, it already seems as if we’re running out of superlatives to describe his play. When Alcaraz won a point late in Sunday’s final in Madrid with an exquisitely precise drop shot-lob combination, all Jim Courier of the Tennis Channel could say was, “The kid’s incredible.” What else do you need to know?

To me, the most telling compliment that Alcaraz has received came from his opponent in that final, Alexander Zverev. After complaining, perhaps rightfully, about his late finishing times during the week in Madrid, Zverev said, “For me to play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, who for me is the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000 event, it is difficult.”

It wasn’t “the best player in the world” part of Zverev’s quote that struck me. It was the way he used “Carlos Alcaraz” as if it was short-hand for all-time tennis greatness, the way “Roger Federer” and “Novak Djokovic” and “Rafa on clay” have been for so long. Zverev is No. 3 in the world, and has been on tour for nine years, but even he speaks of Alcaraz as a kind of legend in the making.

Which brings up a question: What happens to Zverev’s generation—the Next Gen—now that a younger player looks set to assume the aura and mantle of the Big 3? As of January, when 26-year-old Daniil Medvedev nearly won his second straight major title in Australia, the line of succession seemed to be intact. While Nadal ultimately won in Melbourne, Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Matteo Berrettini were the other three semifinalists. Along the way, Berrettini managed to keep Alcaraz in his place—barely—by beating him in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the third round. By March, when 24-year-old Taylor Fritz beat Nadal to win the title in Indian Wells, the Next Gen seemed to be expanding and consolidating its hold over the ATP’s future.

It wasn’t 'the best player in the world' part of Zverev’s quote that struck me. It was the way he used 'Carlos Alcaraz' as if it was short-hand for all-time tennis greatness, the way 'Roger Federer' and 'Novak Djokovic' and 'Rafa on clay' have been for so long.

Since then, Alcaraz, with some help from the Next Gen itself, has relegated that group to the shadows. Medvedev, Berrettini, and Fritz have been sidelined with injuries. Zverev, Tsitsipas, and Felix Auger-Aliassime all suffered spring slumps. Casper Ruud, Denis Shapovalov, and Jannik Sinner haven’t sustained their momentum from week to week. One bright spot came when Tsitsipas defeated 22-year-old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Monte Carlo final. It was an important title defense for Tsitsipas, and a big breakthrough for the entertaining Davidovich Fokina. But the glory didn’t last long. Tsitsipas lost to Alcaraz a few days later in Barcelona.

Alcaraz hasn’t just been better than the Next Gen; he has also been more likable. No telling umpires they’re stupid or corrupt; no slamming his racquet against their chairs or tossing it in the direction of a ball kid. Alcaraz gives points back to his opponents if he thinks he won them through bad calls. He flashes his wide smile even when he misses shots. He plays with an infectious passion and is a natural at engaging the crowd. He has already broken through the wall that normally separates tennis from the mainstream sports media in the U.S.; even columnists who specialize in basketball and football know his name. The same may be true at your local tennis club or park.

Alcaraz says he’s “probably one of the favorites” at Roland Garros this year. He’s right, of course, but that also qualifies as a bold statement in the era of Nadal. Since Rafa won his first French Open title in 2005, it has been considered sacrilege even to entertain the idea that someone else might be the favorite in Paris, or worthy of being mentioned alongside him. After Madrid, where Alcaraz beat Rafa and Djokovic for the first time, no one is going to deny that the teenager has a good chance to match Nadal by winning his first major at 19. For lovers of historical symmetry, it would make sense. In 2005, Rafa also took the tour by storm, and came to Paris having won two big clay-court tune-ups, in Monte Carlo and Rome. The expectations were excruciatingly sky-high for him at Roland Garros, but he lived up to them.

For all of his brilliance, Alcaraz’s ascent doesn’t spell the Next Gen’s demise. Medvedev, who will return soon, beat Alcaraz easily in their only meeting, at Wimbledon last year. Tsitsipas made the final in Paris in 2021, and took a set from Alcaraz in Barcelona. Andrey Rublev has had a good season, and Zverev and Auger-Aliassime are playing better now. None of them is older than 26. We also don’t have much of an idea of how well Alcaraz will fare on grass this year.

But Zverev is right to say that he’s better than all of them right now. None of the Next Genners can beat you as many ways as the Spaniard can. And whether it’s Medvedev’s transition game, or Tsitsipas’s backhand, or Zverev’s second serve, each has a weakness that Alcaraz doesn’t have. He doesn’t need any pace to generate incredible power on both his ground strokes. He doesn’t use the drop shot as a bailout, but as another weapon. He can be wild with his shot selection at times, but he has a way of reining it in, and playing better, when the match is on the line. He doesn’t just throw punches like a boxer, he moves like one, too.

See what I mean? There’s no limit to the praises we can sing about Carlos Alcaraz at the moment. Even if he doesn’t win at Roland Garros this time, he has done something that the generation ahead of him couldn’t: Made himself appointment viewing for tennis fans, and hopefully sports fans, everywhere.