Nicolas Lapentti, who peaked at number six in the world believes that Alcaraz is in many ways a better player than Nadal at the same age.
Carlos Alcaraz had a successful year overall, especially in the later part of the year when he won his first grand slam and rose to the top of the rankings. He established himself as the biggest talent to emerge in recent years during a year that was overall spectacular and in which he won several trophies.
“If you can compare Alcaraz to Nadal when they were both 19, Alcaraz is much better in many different things," said former player Nicolas Lapentti who played Nadal as a youngster and knows how he plays.
"He serves better than Rafa. From the baseline, he is a bit more aggressive. Rafa was bad with his transition when he was 19 then he started improving a lot and tried to get more aggressive."
“They move pretty similarly. When they have to defend, they are very good - both of them. Then, coming to the net, Alcaraz is much better than where Rafa was at 19. So, in many ways, Alcaraz is better." continued Lapentti.
According to Lapentti, it doesn't mean Alcaraz will have a similar career to Nadal or even better because nobody competes as hard as Nadal does: "He was this giant kid, baby face, huge arms fighting like a bull."
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