Todd Woodbridge says Carlos Alcaraz has the ability to define how tennis is played in coming years
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 06/04/2022 at 14:09 GMT
Australian doubles legend Todd Woodbridge says that Miami Masters champion Carlos Alcaraz is beginning his career at just the right time and thinks he won't plateau like other promising young players have done in recent years. Woodbridge also said he thought Alcaraz had taken things from Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal's games as the Spanish sensation looks set to dominate in years to come.
‘I am not afraid to say I want to win a Grand Slam’ – Alcaraz after claiming Miami Open
Carlos Alcaraz could end up defining how men's tennis is played in the coming years, says Australian doubles legend Todd Woodbridge.
Alcaraz won his first-ever Masters 1000 title in Miami last week, becoming the third-youngest men's player in history to do so.
And in the way he has begun 2022 - he also and got to the semi-finals of Indian Wells - the 18-year-old Alcaraz has left pundits and fans alike speculating just what heights he can touch during his career ahead, with Woodbridge comparing him to other prodigies of the past and believing the Spaniard's breakout comes at a particularly opportune moment.
"He definitely has an X-factor, but his timing couldn't be better,” Woodbridge told ausopen.com.
“There have been some great young players who came through when you had Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at their best. So you had three game styles, and you had to beat all three to get to the top.
"Whereas now, there isn't as much to have to worry about with the top talent -- both his peer group, the generation above, and then the Big Three who have dominated.
“Alcaraz now has this window to be able to build his game, to be the dominant player. At 18, he's still maturing, he's still going to grow his game. Technically he's sound, he's going to get stronger.
“He has a period of time now to be able to make his game style the best and the hardest to beat, and he's going to set the base platform of what this next generation of players is going to be playing like.
"It's his ability to keep winning. He’s 18-2 for the season. It is winning a Masters title. But it's not just one result – it's been that trajectory that we haven't really seen.
“[With other rising stars] we've seen an upward curve and then a plateau and then a little dip, before we've seen an upward curve again.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/04/04/3349515-68470573-2560-1440.jpg)
‘I am not afraid to say I want to win a Grand Slam’ – Alcaraz after claiming Miami Open
"Alcaraz is going to go and stay trending up. Rafa’s probably the last one to have done that, and then from my perspective it was Boris Becker who similarly burst onto the scene. Boris won a Slam very quickly after winning at Queen's Club.
"Rafa did the same in 2005, winning his first Masters titles [Monte Carlo and Rome] then turning up to Roland Garros and winning that. This is rarefied air Alcaraz has stepped into. So I think it's a really exciting time.”
Woodbridge also paid tribute to how Alcaraz carries himself on the court and the work that he has put in with coach Juan-Carlos Ferrero, who himself reached world No.1 and won the French Open in 2003.
“The way he's competed on court has been robust, but [his] behaviour has been exemplary," Woodbridge said.
"He's gritty, he's determined. Those attributes are all very important to creating that complete player.
“He looks like he's watched Rafa and Roger and thought, 'that is the way I have to approach being the best player I can be'.
"You look at the team around him, and Ferrero is sound. It's no frills, it's hard work. The ethos that Juan Carlos had to get to world No.1 is what this kid likes, and sees, and is what's working.
“He just seems to be making good decisions at a young age. That's pretty exciting for the sport.”
- - -
Stream the 2022 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement