Carlos Alcaraz news: ‘This guy is an animal’ and ‘the real deal’, says Andy Roddick

Shahida Jacobs
March 31, 2022

There was high praise for Carlos Alcaraz from Andy Roddick following another impressive win for the Spaniard at the Miami Open with the former world No 1 impressed with his movement and forehand.

After winning the second title of his career at the Rio Open in mid-February, Alcaraz followed it up with a run to the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open, losing against compatriot Rafael Nadal in a tightly contested match.

On Tuesday he reached the last eight in Miami with another impressive display against third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, beating the Greek 7-5, 6-3 after being 5-2 down in the opening set.

It was his second win over Tsitsipas as he also won a five-set marathon at the US Open last year and Roddick says 18-year-old is no flash in the pan.

“This guy moves like it’s unbelievable,” he told the Tennis Channel. “People normally have to grow into their movement a little bit and he doesn’t need much time to fire the forehand.

“Most of the guys with huge forehands need two feet under them to give it a ride. This guy can turn on it real quick, almost like Andre Agassi used to.

“You would hit a big ball to him and it would come back just as fast.

“This guy is no joke. He’s the real deal and I don’t know that this [the win over Tsitsipas] is an upset.

“I don’t know that we’ve seen someone this young, who you kind of expect to win matches like this often. This guy is an animal.”

Andy Roddick Carlos Alcaraz