Carlos Alcaraz was called a combination of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer by former player Rennae Stubbs.
The Australian spoke about the Indian Wells Masters in her podcast taking special note of the way Alcaraz defeated Medvedev in the Indian Wells final. The Spaniard was spectacular beating a player who won 19 matches in a row comfortably with the Russian conceding that Alcaraz is the rightful number one.
He literally made Medvedev look terrible. He was overpowering Daniil Medvedev. This is the thing that I really noticed about Alcaraz. He would be happy to rally and not really go for it. He hit one back and two backhands and then he would crush one backhand and it would literally push Medvedev backwards, where he couldn't control the ball.
He's literally overpowering Daniil Medvedev, which never happens. That just shows you how great he is at changing the pace of the ball and how hard he hits the ball and how athletic he is. His variety is off the charts.
Stubbs sees fragments of the big three in the way Alcaraz conducts himself on the court finding similarities with all of them. She compared his aggressive approach to finish points to that of Federer, his groundstrokes and movement to Djokovic and his tenacity to that of Nadal.
He himself isn't that keen on comparisons wanting to build his own legacy but when you do things at a historic rate you're going to be compared to those that came before you. It's inevitable and even superb players like Medvedev can see that he has something special.
He is like a combination of the Big 3, literally. He is the characteristics of all three. He comes forward and wants to come into the net and finish points off, like Roger. He has the spin on the forehand and the flatness of the backhand and the flexibility in the speed around the court, like Novak. And he has the tenacity and that sort of drive and desire and Frankly looks like happiness, like Nadal.