"I think Alcaraz is gonna win his first Slam" - Macci predicts 2022 US Open
ATP
Legendary coach Rick Macci thinks that Carlos Alcaraz will win his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open.
Macci is the youngest-ever USPTA Hall-of-Fame tennis coach and former coach of five World No. 1 players on the ATP and WTA Tours. He coached the likes of Serena Williams and Venus Williams, but also Maria Sharapova.
With the 2022 US Open right around the corner, the seven-time USPTA Coach of the Year talked exclusively to Tennis Infinity. One of the players that Macci talked about was also Alcaraz.
The young Spaniard was named as one of the top favorites already at the 2022 Roland Garros. However, he lost already in the quarter-finals of the clay-court major.
Now, he will enter the US Open as one of the main favorites again, and Macci actually thinks that Alcaraz might win his first Grand Slam title in New York this year.
"I'm going down a different even though he hasn't done it. I think [Carlos] Alcaraz is gonna win his first Slam. I just feel he's gotten so much experience."
According to Macci, the fact that Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are not in the draw makes the path to the title much easier today than it was a few years ago.
"He's lost some tough matches. He just turned 19. He's not going undefeated. I just think he's a generational talent. So my prediction of the men, I'm going with Alcaraz, and I think it's easier when you look at these draws, and you don't see [Roger] Federer and you don't see [Novak] Djokovic."
"It just changes everything the way you look at it like there are probably many, many people that think, 'why not me, why not me?' All that being said, at the end of the day, the favorite is [Daniil] Medvedev. He is the favorite, and he knows it."
