Carlos Alcaraz has performed as well as he can so far in his career and is currently doing ‘fantastic’ in the sport, according to Roger Federer.
The Swiss maestro has spoken about Alcaraz’s meteoric rise in the sport during an interview with the ATP Tennis podcast. The Spanish 20-year-old has already won 12 ATP titles so far in his career, including the 2022 US Open and 2023 Wimbledon trophies. Last year he became the youngest player in ATP rankings history to end a season in the No.1 spot. He is also the youngest player to have beaten both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the same clay court event, as well as the sixth-youngest in history to have won 10 or more Tour-level titles.
Alcaraz has yet to add to his trophy collection since winning Wimbledon. During the Asian swing, he lost in the semi-finals of the China Open to Jannik Sinner, who went on the claim the title. Then at the Shanghai Masters, he was upset in the third round by Grigor Dimitrov.
However, 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer believes too much shouldn’t be read into those defeats. Saying that it is hard for any player to produce their best level of tennis every week on the Tour.
“I think Carlos, he’s done as well as he possibly could have so far,” Federer said on the ATP Tennis Radio podcast.
“He’s going to lose some time to time, like in Shanghai, but he’s doing fantastic. He’s got a great game and obviously an unbelievable future ahead of him.
“Of course, with Rafa, Novak, myself and Murray, we all expect every generation to produce their best tennis every single week for some reason, but it’s hard to do that.
“Alcaraz is great. I mean, look, he’s still young and everything that he has achieved is fantastic. And not just on clay or just on hard. But also now winning Wimbledon against Novak in the final. That is no joke. I mean he didn’t need to really prove that point but that’s another super asterisk in his CV… mighty impressive.”
Compared to Alcaraz, Federer was 21 when he won his first major title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships which was just over two years after he won his maiden ATP event.
Earlier this year, Novak Djokovic described the Spaniard as ‘basically the best’ mix of the big Three shortly after losing to him at Wimbledon. Praising Alcaraz’s ‘Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness,‘ ability to adapt his game and defensive skills.
So does Federer have the same opinion as Djokovic?
“I see a bit of the power on the forehand side, Rafa’s style a little bit,” he commented.
“Maybe also more the technique from me. Obviously, you see the drop shot, you see he’s using slice, he can play from the back like Rafa can.
“Then he’s got some defensive skills that rival Novak’s but Novak’s obviously at an elite level because when you do it for so many years, you stand alone basically. Like Rafa on clay.
“Maybe there’s a combination but it’s also not fair to say that because Carlos is Carlos, like Novak is Novak and Rafa is Rafa. I don’t like it when there are just too many comparisons. I like it when they stand alone.”
Alcaraz’s next tournament will be the Swiss Indoors. An event Federer dominated throughout his career by winning the title a record 10 times.
