John McEnroe heaps praise on Carlos Alcaraz: ‘Never seen a player this good at this age’
John McEnroe has heaped praise on Carlos Alcaraz, describing the world No 1 as a ‘breath of fresh air’ and labelling him the most ‘complete’ 22-year-old player that he’s ever seen.
Fresh off his stunning run to the 2025 US Open title – where he only dropped a sole set – Alcaraz is back in action, seeking to aid Team Europe at the San Francisco edition of the Laver Cup
The Spaniard has reclaimed the top spot in the rankings for the first time in 25 months, losing just six of his 67 matches this season.
Alcaraz will next play Taylor Fritz – a clash worth two points for their respective teams – with the former holding a 2-0 Laver Cup overall singles record.
McEnroe, who helped captain Team World from 2017 until 2024, was quick to highlight the unique qualities which Alcaraz brings to the ATP Tour during an interview with the Tennis Channel.
“How much time do we got?” the American joked, when asked to describe why Alcaraz is so ‘special’ for the ATP Tour.
“I mean, I’ve watched tennis for 50 years or longer… Of all the players I’ve ever watched, at this age, I’ve never seen a player this good and this complete for the last two or three years.
“Thank God for Carlos Alcaraz and what he’s bringing to the table.
“The young kids always want to emulate the big boys.
“I’m hoping that they’re going to look at Carlos and what he does—how he loves to be aggressive and move forward—because we’ve lost a lot of that.
“But I think that’s going to change because of him.
“Talk about a breath of fresh air when we desperately needed it.
“To have him and Jannik (Sinner) come in, and the other guys now have to chase them and try to catch up…It’s really awesome.”
Overall, Sinner and Alcaraz have won all of the eight most recent Grand Slams – contesting the last three of such finals against one another.
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On the first day of the 2025 Laver Cup, Alcaraz collected the doubles victory for his team alongside Jakub Mensik – victorious 7-6(7), 6-4 over Taylor Fritz and Alex Michelsen.
There was little to separate the two pairs, with the Spaniard and the Czech crucially saving a set point in the first-set tiebreak.
Despite the result, Alcaraz admitted that he felt ‘lost sometimes’ given his lack of recent doubles practice.
“I feel bad, to be honest, but you know, it is my first doubles, I would say, since Davis Cup last year. I felt a little bit lost sometimes,” he remarked.
“Sometimes I just had to be closer to the net. Like, for example, at that point I didn’t, but yeah, I mean, today there were great points in the doubles.
“As I said in the interview on court, I think thanks to Jakub [Mensik] that he pushed from the baseline, great serves on the net. It just felt comfortable to do great shots.
“It was a good match, I guess.”
