Former world number one Ashleigh Barty recently praised Carlos Alcaraz in superlative terms because the potential of how good he could be is scary.
The Spaniard is one of the best players in the world, if not the best, and he's not even 22. He was a teenager when he proved that he belonged among the best, becoming the youngest world number one ever on the ATP Tour.
That's an incredible achievement, considering the long history of the sport and how many legendary players we've seen over the years. The best part of all of that is that he's just starting.
He can still become a far better player even though he is already an incredible player with a tremendous skill set. His serve has looked much better in the past few months, coincidentally improving with his Roland Garros and Wimbledon triumphs.
He has a superb forehand, a really good backhand, and tremendous power behind both shots. His speed is amazing, the physicals are there, and he moves well.
He has proven himself to be really mentally tough this year, especially at Roland Garros, overcoming multiple tricky situations. It's scary, according to former number one Barty, who spoke about the Spaniard with Stan Sport.
"He has got this incredible charisma – he always looks like he is a six-year-old kid out on court having fun. He’s obviously been on this emotional run as well, playing in his first Olympics at Roland Garros where he’s just had so much success."
"He’s been playing with Rafael Nadal and now that they’re no longer in the tournament he’s able to shift his focus completely to singles and just go out there on the singles court and do what he does best."
Barty highlighted the Spaniard's joy of playing tennis. He does it with a big smile, and it's just a breath of fresh air among his colleagues because a lot of them are very serious during matches. He's just a kid out there and so good that he's beating all of these serious athletes.
"What is scary is that he can get so much better. Physically he’s incredible and to be so young and so complete as an athlete is remarkable. His game of tennis is impressive, but there’s so much more for him to learn."
"It’s scary to think he already has four Grand Slam titles and has been No 1 in the world and there’s so much more for him to grow into as a complete player. When he figures it out and puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, it’s scary what his potential could be."
No one knows how far the 21-year-old is from his true peak because we might just be looking at a player who may end up being the most electric player we've ever seen.
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