There’s no blueprint to becoming a sporting great, never mind the greatest-ever.
Each one of those who obtain membership to the select group who are considered the greatest-ever in their respective sports have done it in distinctly different ways. From Tiger Woods to Usain Bolt to Serena Williams to Lebron James, their paths to greatness have differed quite considerably.
The similarity, though, between them all, is the decades it took to get to the point of becoming the best of all-time. There is no short-cut to becoming the greatest-ever, the only way is to win year after year after year. Whatever setbacks or obstacles they encountered, and all encountered many over the years, they found a way to overcome them. But the process was long and arduous.
This is why it was quite so interesting to watch Carlo Alcaraz’s new documentary series, which was released this week.
The Spaniard is still only 21 years old - he turns 22 tomorrow - yet is one of the very best in the world and has four grand slam titles to his name.
He’s already a great tennis player.
But what became immediately apparent when watching this documentary series was that just being great isn’t enough for Alcaraz; the Spaniard wants to be the greatest tennis player ever.
This is quite an ambition, for so many reasons.
Firstly, Alcaraz is in a sport which, of course, boasts Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic as its greatest-ever male players.
These men have 20, 22 and 24 titles respectively (and, in the case of Djokovic, still counting) which are astonishing numbers.
Secondly, having the explicit ambition of becoming the “greatest-ever” is something almost every sports psychologist on the planet would warn against.
The mantra of elite athletes is to focus on the process rather than the outcome, and this certainly applies when the outcome is winning a couple of dozen or more grand slam titles.
And thirdly, and perhaps the most astonishing part of this insight into Alcaraz’s life, is his not only his willingness but keenness to tell the world that he wants to be the greatest-ever.
Admittedly, most of us, myself included, are unqualified to comment on the mindset needed to become the greatest-ever in any given sport, but it doesn’t take a genius to deduce that shouting about becoming the greatest-ever while still absolutely miles from becoming it probably isn’t the smartest move.And here’s why.
Becoming great at sport, as Alcaraz already knows, is hard.
It’s takes a lot of things to all come together, plus more than a little luck, for it all to work out. If you have most of the tools, though, becoming great is achievable.
Becoming the greatest-ever is something else entirely, though. And it also includes things that are entirely outwith a particular individual’s control.
Take Federer. It seemed, in the early days as the Swiss started to rack up grand slam titles at an unusually rapid rate, that he was well on his way to becoming the greatest-ever.
But look where the Swiss stands now; in, at best, third place in tennis’ all-time list.
Conversely, few, if any would have suggested in the early years of his career that Djokovic would even have got close to becoming the greatest-ever but as things currently stand, he’s the clear number one of all-time.
But back to Alcaraz.
Yes, he’s an astonishing tennis player.
To have achieved the success he has already is almost entirely unprecedented.
These past results are, of course, encouraging when it comes to pondering what he can do in the future.
But racking up 25-plus grand slam titles is an entirely different prospect from winning a few, or a dozen, or even twenty titles. Alcaraz and his team should know this.
The insight into the Spaniard’s mindset in his documentary was interesting.
Although calling it, or any of these shows a documentary is actually a little disingenuous; rather than an objective, independent look at these individuals, these series’ are typically little more than an advert for said athletes with, usually, all editorial control handed to the star and their team. Any revelations, therefore, are tightly controlled.
What these shows can do, though, is they can reveal things that the athlete didn’t realise they were revealing.
This is exactly what happened when it comes to Alcaraz’s regular mentions of becoming the “greatest-ever”, as well as his team’s constant reminders of this ultimate goal.
There was something uncomfortable watching Alcaraz’s coaching and support team suggest to him that he might be best not to go on holiday if he really wants to become the best in history.
Or constantly remind him of the sizeable sacrifices that are required if he really does want to become the greatest-ever.
This might, ultimately be true; certainly Djokovic’s entire life has, in recent years anyway, been dedicated almost exclusively to the pursuit of true greatness.
But none of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, at the stage of the career Alcaraz is at, ever whispered of trying to become the greatest-ever.
There’s reasons for this; primarily because it’s quite a pressure to put upon oneself. And ultimately, it’s statistically very unlikely to happen.
Indeed there’s every chance that even if Alcaraz ends his career with the most grand slams ever that he’s still not considered the greatest-ever given the era in which he’s playing which is, unquestionably, weaker than the era of the ‘Big Three’.
Only time will tell if Alcaraz is, in the end, able to fulfil his target of becoming the greatest-ever. If he does then hats off to him and I’ll be happy to admit that my prediction about quite how unhelpful broadcasting his aim of becoming the greatest tennis player ever was entirely wrong.
We will, as the years progress, never know if shouting about his desire to become the greatest-ever is having any impact, positive or negative, on the Spaniard’s career.
Watching Alcaraz, and the environment he’s created, though, it seems like an impossible weight to bear over the coming decade or more, which is how long he’ll need to be at the top of tennis if he is to surpass Djokovic as the greatest-ever.
The most obviously clear thing about Alcaraz’s insistence of shouting about his goal, though, was quite how unnecessary a weight it is to put upon his shoulders.
Alcaraz is already a great tennis player, and he’s likely to only increase this standing.
What good, though, does it do anyone to talk of such ridiculously grandiose targets when achieving them is still so far away?
I am, clearly, no expert in what it takes to become the greatest-ever. But if I had one piece of advice for Alcaraz, it’d be to stop talking about becoming the greatest-ever and start focusing purely on winning his next match.
Because, in the end, that’ll take him to where he wants to be.
