Eurosport tennis analyst Mats Wilander gave an exclusive interview to tennishead.net speaking about Carlos Alcaraz and what makes him different from other players.
Wilander took an interesting approach in explaining how Alcaraz is as a player comparing him to a younger self. The former world number one said of the world number six:
“I’m not sure I could give Alcaraz any advice. The similarity I see [between teenage me and him] is that he is very mature when it comes to trying to solve the problem. Playing his best while making his opponent play his worst. He seems unafraid of trying to find out ‘what do I need to do to play better’ and ‘what do I need to do to make you play worse’. There’s a confidence in his own problem-solving abilities.”
Wilander continued:
“It doesn’t mean Alcaraz is going to solve the problem every time. It doesn’t mean that I solved the problem very often. But he seems to be fearless when it comes to trying to solve the problem, giving himself different choices. So he’s emotionally very mature, that’s the big difference with him and some of the other young players. He’s unafraid of going into the unknown, which should be the most normal quality of a professional tennis player.”
And he finished off with:
“But it seems to be the most unusual quality of tennis players and something that only very few players over the years have shown us, that ‘what I am at 18, 19 is the same mind that I am at 35, 36.’ Very few players can do that. Alcaraz already has the mindset of a veteran, even though he has so little experience.”
0 Comments