The 20-year-old is expected to dominate tennis in the coming years
Roger Federer’s old coach Severin Luthi has warned Carlos Alcaraz can’t afford to get too ahead of himself.
The 20-year-old was outstanding at Wimbledon, recently beating Novak Djokovic in five sets to claim a second Grand Slam title of his career.
Alcaraz has been tipped to dominate tennis in the time since, with the youngster previously winning the US Open at Flushing Meadows last year.
Yet Luthi, speaking to Blick, has warned the 20-year-old not to get too ahead of himself with injury fears raised as well.
“He definitely has what it takes to win many Grand Slam tournaments and yet we don’t know what will happen in two years’ time,” said Federer’s old coach.
“What if he hurts himself? 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 the great success is something we can’t estimate that early on.”
Luthi also admits that he once thought nobody would beat Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
Since then, the likes of Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have all soared past the American.
And Luthi added: “I guess I’ve been wrong about most of the predictions I’ve made in my life.
“I still remember when Pete Sampras had 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 wins.
“And it’s not like 250 years have passed since I made my statement.”
While Luthi has warned Alcaraz, he’s also revealed he’s a huge fan of the Spaniard and the talent he possesses.
“I like watching him, he plays in a variety of ways, something always happens when he’s on the court,” he added.
“I really like his energy. He also still has ups and downs in his service games.
“But of course, he is a very complete player.”
Luthi started working with Federer back in 2007.
And he helped the Swiss maestro shine prior to the 41-year-old retiring from tennis last year.
Luthi has revealed they stay close, however, despite Federer often being busy in the wake of his decision to leave the sport behind.
“We recently met via Facetime because it was his two daughters’ birthdays,” he revealed.
“Otherwise the contact is irregular. Roger is still on the road a lot. He still has a special life.
“We are still connected through other things as well. Through the sponsor Uniqlo, for example. Or the Laver Cup.
“And this year we have already met twice in Dubai. Once when I was vacationing there.
“He enjoys life after his career. He’s always been a world champion at making the best of a situation – cheerful and positive as he is.
“He can now focus on other things: on the family, building the house, his foundation and the sponsors.
“He no longer has the stress of building up tension before tournaments.
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. Because tennis itself was never the problem. He probably would have played to 100 if he could have.”
