"I've never seen a more well-rounded player" - Woodbridge on Alcaraz
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz can't stop hearing praise anywhere he goes, and former doubles ATP World No. 1 player Todd Woodbridge also had nice things to say about the young Spaniard.
Throughout the 2022 season, Alcaraz kept proving that he's an incredibly talented player. It all culminated at the US Open, where he won his first Grand Slam title and became the youngest ATP World No. 1 in history.
It was a win that proved that he's a special talent. Alcaraz is still only 19, which makes his win even more special. As a former player himself, Todd Woodbridge recognized this as he spoke about the teenager on the latest episode of The AO Show podcast.
Woodbridge mentioned that over the years, there haven't been many teenage "phenoms" who would shine as much as Alcaraz did, and if there were, they ended up being incredibly successful players.
"When you look at the tennis landscape over the last 30, 40, maybe 50 years, there's only been a few players that have come along that are what you'd call a 'phenom.'”
“You might look at the result of Michael Chang (as a 17-year-old at Roland Garros 1989), Rafa coming through (as a teenager at Roland Garros 2005), and that's in my time at least, and then Boris Becker (who won Wimbledon 1985 as a 17-year-old) just before my time."
"Now we throw Carlos Alcaraz into that mix, where we've witnessed the beginning of greatness. And time will tell how ultimately great he will become."
Woodbridge focused not only on the fact that Alcaraz won the trophy in New York but also on how he played. He predicts a great future for the 19-year-old.
"But the performance that he put on at this tournament was just a joy to watch, and really made me feel like tennis is in that transition, and it's going to be amazing. I didn't expect we'd have this quality of play this early from the next generation."
Like many before him, Woodbridge also compared Alcaraz to the Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. According to the former Australian player, the young Spaniard has something from all of them.
"But it looks to me as though Carlos has cherry-picked the very best out of Federer (the way that he transitions and volleys), Nadal (the tenacity, the positivity), and then the athleticism and movement of Djokovic. I've never seen a more well-rounded player in my time of watching the game."
