Carlos Alcaraz described as ‘Michael Jordan’ of tennis with ‘gravitational pull’ Novak Djokovic can’t match
Acclaimed tennis coach and pundit Mark Petchey has hailed Carlos Alcaraz’s “gravitational pull” and the Spaniard’s ability to bring new fans into the sport.
Alcaraz has recently won his sixth Grand Slam singles title, beating Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s US Open final, and has returned to world No 1 for the first time in two years as a result.
The Spaniard has become one of the leading sports stars of his generation, with a huge following and interest inside and outside of sport, with three million people in the United States watching the US Open final — the highest audience for a men’s final since 2015.
Comparisons to the greatness of the likes of Novak Djokovic have already been made, though the 22-year-old is still far off matching the success of the likes of the Serbian, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.
However, Petchey, who has coached the likes of Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu, believes that Alcaraz has already achieved a greater star power than Djokovic and most other tennis players.
Speaking to tennis betting site BetVictor, Petchey said that the 22-year-old had an “X Factor” that rivalled that of basketball icon Michael Jordan.
“You can talk about the greatest of all time statistically and it’s a slam dunk for Novak at the moment,” commented Petchey.
“But there’ll obviously be a part of that conversation where you take statistics out of it and you talk about gravitational pull from other eyeballs that wouldn’t necessarily watch the sport that we talk about.
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“Carlos, for me, has that X Factor that other people who wouldn’t necessarily want to watch tennis want to watch him.
“We talk about people never being bigger than the sport, and obviously that is very true. The sport will always survive; it will always regenerate.
“But within the golden times of any sport, there is a particular star icon that was a part of that era. You had it with [Michael] Jordan in the Nineties with the [Chicago] Bulls. You have it now with Carlos.
“It’s not to disrespect anybody else; he just has something that people want to come watch.”
Alcaraz’s six Grand Slam titles draws him level with tennis icons Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, and close to the likes of Mats Wilander and John McEnroe, in the all-time Grand Slam standings.
Aged only 22, and not turning 23 next May, many have predicted that Alcaraz could potentially one day break Djokovic’s record of 24 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
However, Petchey believes that the Spaniard must be careful with his scheduling, even if he is close to peak physical conditioning.
He added: “With Carlos the way that he plays and the fun that he seemingly has on the court, together with that added discipline that we saw throughout the US Open bodes well, not last for a lack of burnout.
“When you look at some of the players that have been so exceptional at such a young age, the concern is: ‘Where do they go? How do they stay motivated?’
“Scheduling is going to be huge for Carlos as he goes through the rest of his career.
“He mustn’t overplay at this stage, not having to hoover up unnecessary exhibition money to make sure that he stays as fresh and healthy for the big tournaments.
“He is going to have to be smart. We as fans want him to be smart because the longer he’s around tennis is going to be a whole lot more fun.”
Alcaraz has withdrawn from Spain’s Davis Cup clash with Denmark this weekend, though he will return to action representing Team Europe at the Laver Cup the following weekend.
The Spaniard is then set to play at the Japan Open in Tokyo to start his Asian swing, before competing at the Shanghai Masters.
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