By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, October 17, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz is fantastic all-court players with an “unbelievable” future, says Roger Federer.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion cautions it’s not fair to compare the Wimbledon champion to Big 3 champions Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer himself.
“Alcaraz is great. He’s still young and everything that he has achieved is fantastic, not just on clay or the hard surfaces,” Federer told the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast in an interview from Shanghai. “Winning Wimbledon against Novak [Djokovic] in the final is no joke. He didn’t need to really prove that point but that’s another super asterisk in his CV. It’s mighty impressive.
“Of course, as it was with Rafa [Nadal], Novak, myself, and [Andy] Murray, we all expect now every generation to produce their best tennis every single week, but it’s hard to do that.”
The 20-year-old Spanish superstar, who made his mark as the youngest ATP year-end No. 1 in history last season, has exceeded expectations, Federer said.
“I think Carlos has done as well as he possibly could have so far,” Federer said. “And he’s going to lose sometimes, like here in Shanghai, but he’s doing fantastic.
“He’s got a great game and obviously an unbelievable future ahead of him.”
Though he comes from a clay-court nation and has hailed Rafa Nadal as one of his tennis heroes, Alcaraz credited Federer’s artful elegance for his affinity for the lawn game and as a stylistic influence.
“I enjoying playing on grass. I mean, playing on grass is beautiful, and I would say the game of everybody become, you know, more beautiful, I would say,” Alcaraz told the media in London during his run to the Queen’s Club championship. “Serve and volley, return and volley, you know, slices.
“I would say Federer put elegance into play on grass. I am talking for me.”
The Swiss stylist’s elegance on court enchanted the young Alcaraz.
“Rafa is someone I’ve always watched,” Alcaraz told Vogue earlier this year. “I admire him a lot. But Federer, the class he had, the way he got people to see tennis: That was beautiful.
“Watching Federer is like looking at a work of art. It’s elegance, he did everything magnificently. I became enchanted by him.”
Eight-time Wimbledon winner Federer says Alcaraz incorporates elements of each Big 3 champion into his game, but has his own unique style.
“Yes, he has a lot of power with…
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