"Alcaraz is the Rafa of the new generation" - says Patrick Mouratoglou

| by Drew Tate

Noted tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou took a closer look at Carlos Alcaraz comparing him to Rafael Nadal and whether he could surpass him.

Rafael Nadal is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time so whenever you have a player that is compared to him, it's high praise. Mouratoglou certainly can spot the similarities with Nadal but also the differences. Comparing the two, Mouratoglo said:

"Rafael Nadal has some of the best return stats to tour. He has won more return games than anyone else, and holds the highest percentage at 33.5%. But one player is topping Rafa on return stats this season, Carlos Alcaraz. Did you know that the Spaniard wins 51.8% of his return games when he wins the first point of the game? To put this in perspective, the tour's average on this data is 38.4%. Alcaraz also leads in return games won after the first two points with 77.8%, which is 5% more than Rafa. The tour average is 59.4%."

Carlos Alcaraz destroys Bagnis for the Umag Open semifinal
Carlos Alcaraz destroys Bagnis for the Umag Open semifinal

Speaking further on Alcaraz, he said:

"Once in the rally, Alcaraz does a great job at neutralizing the point and gradually builds up to take control. A lot of people say that Alcaraz is the Rafa of the new generation of the players. But could he potentially surpass him? I think that's one of the most and solid players on tour right now, and that we will see him inside the top 5 very soon."

Naomi Osaka's Australian Open butterfly picture chosen as Sports photograph of the year
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