Carlos Alcaraz is one tremendous player, with his Wimbledon win proving it, and Novak Djokovic can see shades of himself, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal in him.
Carlos Alcaraz has already become the second-winningest player in the Top 10 on the ATP Tour in terms of Grand Slams behind Djokovic. The Spaniard now has two Grand Slam trophies after his 2023 Wimbledon triumph, the second most behind the Serbian.
Being as great as he is at a very young age earned him comparisons to the Big Three. It's only natural because we haven't actually seen many young players dominate in the way that he does. He's the youngest number one ever on the ATP Tour, and that's speaking volumes when you consider the long history of the sport.
When asked about it, Djokovic expressed similar views to Rennae Stubbs, finding shades of all three members of the Big Three in his game. In some ways, the Spaniard grew up watching all of them, and so it's no surprise that he adopted some of their traits.
I think people have been talking in the past 12 months or so about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I would agree with that. I think he's got basically best of all three worlds.
He's got this mental resilience and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old. It's quite impressive. He's got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we've seen with Rafa over the years.
Alcaraz largely grew up idolizing Roger Federer, who was his favourite player growing up, but his game is not a copy of his. There are players who modelled his style to that of Federer, but he's actually a really nice blend of many things which makes him so good.
And I think he's got some nice sliding backhands that he's got some similarities with my backhands. Yeah, two-handed backhands, defense, being able to adapt. I think that has been my personal strength for many years. He has it, too.
I haven't played a player like him ever, to be honest. Roger and Rafa have their own obviously strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is very complete player. Amazing adapting capabilities that I think are a key for longevity and for successful career on all surfaces.
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