Carlos Alcaraz names best movers on grass and dismisses Novak Djokovic from conversation
Carlos Alcaraz is hoping to learn a thing or two from Roger Federer and Andy Murray as he feels they are among the best movers on grass, but one player whom he won’t be copying is Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz is still a novice on grass as he has played in only seven matches on the surface with four of those coming at Wimbledon last year, two at the previous edition at the All England Club and the most recent one at the cinch Championships on Tuesday.
And his first-round encounter at Queen’s Club Championship this week once again proved that he is not as comfortable on grass as he is on clay or hard courts as he needed two and a half hours to get past Arthur Rinderknech, winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).
After the match Alcaraz was asked how he intends to improve and revealed that he has been studying videos of eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer as well as Murray – a two-time winner at SW19.
Federer, of course, holds the record for most matches won on grass with 192 while Murray has the best figures in terms of active players with 117 wins.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Djokovic is also one of the all-time greats on grass courts as he is looking to draw level with Federer on eight titles at the All England Club while he has 109 match wins on grass.
Alcaraz, though, prefers to take a leaf out of the Federer and Murray books instead of Djokovic as is unlikely to copy the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s sliding style.
“I’ve always said that on grass you have to move well and from there everything else. Speaking for myself, I like to put on videos of Federer or Murray, who are among the players who move best on grass,” he told Estadio Deportivo.
“I’m not going to talk about Djokovic because he slides as if he was playing on clay and that’s not going to be my case. It’s no longer a case of how they hit, because everyone has their own style, but see how they move, and then try to imitate them.”
The 20-year-old Alcaraz, who can usurp Djokovic at No 1 in the ATP Rankings if he wins the title at Queen’s Club, will take on Jiri Lehecka in the second round.
And he dreams of following in the footsteps of fellow Spaniards Rafael Nadal (2008) and Feliciano Lopez (2017 and 2019) to have won the title.
“I like to see my name among the winners of the most historic tournaments. This tournament is so emblematic that I would love to see my name as a winner one day,” he said.
However, that doesn’t mean he is not aware of the challenges he faces.
“My expectations in this tournament are not very high,” he said. “I’ve played two tournaments on grass in my career, I’ve only played seven games. I haven’t played a lot here. I have to play more, spend more hours on court, gain more experience.”
READ MORE: WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz produces stunning fightback to advance at Queen’ss
