Exclusive – Why Carlos Alcaraz could be a hybrid of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
He is the rising star of the men’s game and now former British No 1 Annabel Croft has suggested Carlos Alcaraz could be destined for greatness.
Alcaraz, 19, cemented his reputation as the next superstar of tennis as he won the Miami Open and backed that up by beating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en-route to winning the Madrid Open title.
Those wins fuelled the belief that Alcaraz is ready to challenge the game’s greats and now Croft has told Tennis365 that she believes he has taken the best elements of Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer to build his own game.
“Of my goodness, being court-side watching him in Madrid was absolutely mind-blowing,” said Croft, speaking as a Game4Padel ambassador.
“I never thought I’d see someone come along this quickly having seen the greatest with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“The speed he has around the court and the power he has to turn defence into attack… his volleys are also so beautiful. His level is so high compared to everyone else and I think he is going to have an aura on the court.”
Alcaraz has excelled on clay courts this summer and has been showing his battling qualities at the French Open in Paris in recent days, with Croft intrigued to see how he performs on the grass courts at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon next month.
“He has not played too much on grass,” added Annabel. “He is such a quick learner and if he can learn from some of the great grass court players, with his hand skills and volleys and speed, I say watch this space.
“I believe he is playing at Queen’s Club and then Wimbledon, so it will be fascinating to see how he performs on grass courts.
“It’s so exciting for the game to have a player like this coming through who will be so popular with younger fans. We were waiting to see who could step in when Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were no longer at the top and players like Alcaraz look like they could be ready to do that now.”
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